1916 Buffalo nickel is black
YQQ
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Just bought a small collection of Canadian coins. Included were a few US coins.
One of them is this 1916 Buffalo Nickel.
It is dark, dark- dark brownish black.
The color is very uniform on both sides and the rim. It is Not paint of any kind and does not react to acetone.
It does also not appear to be toning, as every nook and granny is equally black and no grey-silver color is visible anywhere.
weight is: 4.9 grams
How is this possible?
can anyone explain please?
are there any "black" nickels known?
Is there any special collectors value to this coin?
I am "bufffffaloooood about this.
thanks everyone for chiming in.
Today is the first day of the rest of my life
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Comments
the micro porosity makes me guess its a ground recovery coin. It may of been dark red or dark black and then cleaned with an acid or electrolysis.
This seems reasonable to me. I have a 1920 that I pulled out of the ground with a similar looking texture but it's pink.
Collector, occasional seller
Common environmental damage...
This is pretty clearly, without an image, environmental damage.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
I like it. Very cool. Let me know if you come across a black Peace $ I'd buy it!
Looks like it was in the ground for sure and in the daylight for a long period of time.
If you really like it, you should be able to buy them cheap because this is the way copper-nickel corrodes. It usually turns black although green patches can appear now and then.
Advanced nickel collectors don't want this color because it signifies environmental damage. This is also the way modern clad coinage looks when it corrodes. Ditto for Flying Eagle and the "thick white cents" from 1859 to the 1864 copper-nickel cent.
As for the Peace Dollar, it's possible to find that too. It's the last stage of tarnish although for a Peace Dollar you might need to find one that's been found by a metal detector.
I meant the a black beauty Peace $.... lol