What caused this damage

Chrisley

I've had this nickel over 40 years and often wondered what caused this kind of damage. Would this be considered a fold and also it has a gun metal grayish look different from any of my other 1964 nickels. Is that bc it's a different type of metal or planchet persay? I am an amateur collector and as you can see my knowledge is limited. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Oldhoopster

It may have been caught in some type of heavy equipment/machinery to get those gouges. It is not an error and didn’t leave the mint in that condition.

If you are interested in errors, you shouldn’t be concerned over what caused the damage. There are numerous ways a coin can get damaged once it leaves the mint and unless you were there when it happened, you may never be sure. If you find a coin that looks unusual, you need to ask, “How could this have occurred during the minting process”. The minting process is well understood and documented, so you should be able to explain how it occurred.

It takes time and study, but learning the minting process is key to successfully identifying errors and varieties. Try these links to get started,

https://www.coinnews.net/2013/09/13/how-the-philadelphia-mint-makes-hubs-and-dies-to-produce-coins/
https://www.usmint.gov/news/inside-the-mint/how-coins-are-made-coin-production-terminology

WAYNEAS

Man made damage (outside of the mint).
Wayne

ricko

Severe post mint damage..... no numismatic value - not sure it is even spendable. Cheers, RickO

JBK

There are almost literally countless ways a coin can be damaged. The real question is, could that damage have happened during the minting process, and the answer is "no".

seanq

@Oldhoopster said:
It may have been caught in some type of heavy equipment/machinery to get those gouges. It is not an error and didn’t leave the mint in that condition.

I swear my first thought when I saw the pictures was "lawn mower". However that happened, it was long after the coin left the Mint.

Sean Reynolds

Mr_Spud

My first thought was lawn mower also

LanceNewmanOCC

@ricko said:
Severe post mint damage..... no numismatic value - not sure it is even spendable. Cheers, RickO

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probably this.
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@Chrisley

please post images of the whole coin(s). you never know what we may see.

BryceM

Lawnmower, now worth around 4 cents by the look of it.