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80s Coins

KalitenKaliten Posts: 7 ✭
in Q & A Forum

Kind of an odd question but I deposit hundreds to thousands of dollars worth of coins a day and I have noticed something and it's been bugging me. Nearly every coin from the 80s is so unbelievably tarnished. What happened in the 80s that would cause this. It's across all coins from pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. The 70s 90s and so on aren't even close to that amount of coins that are tarnished black, that I come across.

Comments

  • WinLoseWinWinLoseWin Posts: 1,580 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 6, 2020 1:22PM

    Seems like there are a significant number of coins in change that have corrosion or other discoloration, but have not really noticed which decades they are from.

    I've had a general impression, which could be wrong, that coins from the 1990's and later seem to be less so. I just assumed that was because they are newer.

    You are getting to see a much larger, better sample. @cladking and others may have some insight on your question.

    "To Be Esteemed Be Useful" - 1792 Birch Cent --- "I personally think we developed language because of our deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin

  • JBKJBK Posts: 15,679 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I have a crazy theory that I was holding back on to see what others said, but here it is...

    Coins that circulate frequently build up a patina that actually protects the surface. Coins that only lightly circulate get exposed to sweat, oils, and salts from fingers and palms, and those cause heavy tarnish or corrosion since lack of subsequent circulation activity allows these contaminants and corrosives to sit on the coin's surface and react with the metal.

    A good example would be Lincoln cents (and dollar coins, for that matter), A well circulated copper (bronze) coin will usually be a nice chocolate brown color (light or dark), and a lightly circulated copper coin will show lots of luster but will also often have spots of heavy tarnish or even corrosion,

    Using your dates and observations (I have not done my own research), I would guess that pre 1980s coins circulated heavily and got a normal protective patina, while coins from the 1980s might have circulated a bit less and got harsher tarnish or corrosion as a result. Newer coins still have not been out there long enough to do either.

    Just a theory....

  • Namvet69Namvet69 Posts: 9,010 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Kaliten so the big question is how much time do you have to cherrypick all these coins? Got any errors to show us? Peace Roy

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  • KalitenKaliten Posts: 7 ✭

    Not any more sadly Namvet69. Our store updated to QR codes. Which means I no longer deposit much in the way of coin and bills. :'(

  • KalitenKaliten Posts: 7 ✭

    That very well maybe JBK. Thanks for your response. Your the only one who directly responded to my question. :)

  • ChrisH821ChrisH821 Posts: 6,525 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I like the theory proposed by @JBK

    Collector, occasional seller

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