Painted Coins
I’ve heard the old yarn about coins being painted so they could be recovered when spent by the vending machine owner, from the other coins. While going through some of my coins I found this 1898 cent with a red painted reverse from loooong ago. Thoughts?

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Comments
Not paint. Ground recovery corrosion.
besides the usual, i have painted half dollars. have coin, will abuse
Nó it’s definitely paint. This was from my Grandmother’s “from circulation “ IHC Whitman.. she probably picked this in the 40s
The little holes on the obverse of the coin are a dead giveaway to corrosion. The red green and black stuff are all different types of corrosion. The corrosion could really happen anywhere, as it doesn’t have to be in the ground to form
definitely paint
It's not paint. I used to metal detect back in the day and although green is by far the most common patina color on copper, depending on the soil it can be brown, black, or red.
what's the back look like?
Why would anyone paint a Morgan?
From my Grandmother's collection -- almost certainly acquired for $1 in 1950's/1960's Las Vegas:
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