For starters, I am not a coin collector and know virtually nothing about coin errors, mis-stamped coins, real vs. fake errors, etc... I came across this weird nickel many years back and just stuck it in with my wheat pennies, silver dollars, etc… I’ve tried to search to see if this coin is worth anything, but don’t know the correct words to search by and Google brought me to this forum so I registered and thought I’d share my anomaly. I have a 1990 nickel has a thick, thick outer ‘lip’ or ‘edge’ that is rounded from top to bottom and much thicker than an average nickel (see photo). The nickel on the left is an average nickel. In addition, the diameter of the nickel is slightly smaller than a normal nickel. Also, the front and back of the nickel are recessed within the ‘lip’ or ‘edge’ around the coin and the center of the nickel is a bit thinner than a normal nickel (I can’t get a good photo of this unless I cut the nickel in half – not going to happen). You can see by the shadows in the photos that the edges of the front and back of the coin ‘roll’ on a radius toward the outer ‘edge’, but the outer ‘edge’ sticks up past the coin on both sides. I hope the pictures do a better job at explaining the coin than my words did. Maybe another way to describe this coin is that it could literally hold water on both sides (like a bowl with a flat bottom) because it is very thin in the center and the edges are thick on both sides. Again, the rarities: apparently thinner nickel than a standard nickel, slightly smaller diameter than a normal, much thicker ‘edge’ compared to a normal nickel. My questions: Is this a real coin or a fake and how can I tell? Is this type of error even possible? If so, what is the error called? Thanks for any input you can provide!
That coin was either in a dryer or someone beat the edge like that. It is not a mint error but a damaged coin. They turn up often.
PMD. Looks like someone was going to make a ring out of the coin and messed up and pu it back into circulation.
I don't know.. according to these "experts", nickels are tough to spoon, so the concenus leans toward a dryer coin: http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=109624
That's amazing. You mean I can put a nickel in the clothes dryer and that would happen? The OD shrinks, the center gets thinner and the outer edge swells? How many wash cycles would be required because I would be willing to make it a friend for fun.
It's not hard to "spoon" a nickel.I've done a couple of nickels, except without the spoon. A hammer, a nickel and a concrete floor. it takes awhile but you can flatten down the rim. That coin has definately been worked. PMD.
I am only guessing, but I assume it's not as simple as that. I would think the nickel needs to be stuck somewhere and is rotating on it's edge. Just throwing some change into dryer isn't going to do this lol.
That happens with coins stuck in commercial dryers. They get stuck in vents or other crevasses and the heat and movement do that. Or something like that. It does look more spooned, but dryer coins look all kinds of weird, also.
I actually have a nickel similar and have been asking the same questions. Mine is a 2000 but it is super thick and if you look at the edge it looks as if there were 2 or 3 nickels mashed together. You can still see the lines separating the coins. I have not had any luck finding any answers either
Absolutely! Doesn't everyone realize that you would have to leave the coin in the dryer for such a long time that you would never be able to iron out the wrinkles. Chris