I have a 1986 Jefferson Nickel that appears to have metal that contains wrinkles. These are definitely not die cracks. It actually looks like wrinkles caused by rapidly cooling metal. Any idea what this is from and how rare it may be?---Thanks
I have not seen anything similar to this on the internet. I definitely don't know the correct terminology...so please cut me a break on that. The "wrinkles are distributed evenly around Jeffersons head and are actually raised on the surface of the coin. I don't believe that this coin could be altered in this way post mint. No photo right now but maybe in a week or so.
Tough without a photo...but sounds like a worn die. As the die gets older it starts to lose details (die erosion) and does not make as strong/clean a contact with the planchet (blank coin) when struck. What I believe you are seeing are the metal flow lines, which can be a little raised compared to the rest of the coin. Don't worry about terminology, we all start at the beginning. This is a great forum for learning
Based on other photos of coins effected by die erosion, I don't believe this to be the problem. The features on the coin I have are very fine including the wrinkles.
