What Vdi Are Your Buffs & V Nics Coming In At?

[steveg]

GB_Amateur,

Very interesting, and informative post.  

No, I have not weighed the nickels, but I certainly could do so.  I will put that on my list of things to do soon.  

As for your ideas about XRF analysis on both sides, averaging, etc. -- I'd love to have all that done.  The source I used for the XRF analysis is not an option for further testing -- they did as much for me as they could, and as I said, they are not set up for, nor have the experience with, analyzing for the types of metals contained within the coins.  I would love to find another possibility for XRF analysis, somewhere with experience dealing with the metals in question.  Some suggested a gold/jewelry shop, etc. -- and it's still something I plan to check into.  I certainly would like more answers...

Yes, I am familiar with the coin guidebooks you mention; interesting that there's not too much in there about the war nickels, and any "alternate" compositions aside from the "official."  Perhaps you are right that any "deviations" in composition of the planchets -- if they indeed existed -- were not recorded, but I'd be surprised...

I still hold out that one possibility is that that the deviations being seen are mainly on the SURFACE of the coins, and thus it being the ground that is contributing.  For instance, Oklahoma has very irony-red dirt; would a war nickel with "crud" on it, show up as having iron content, when the iron is really in the "crud," and not the nickel itself?

I don't think this is a full explanation, but it is something to think about...

Steve

[GB_Amateur]

5 hours ago, steveg said:

I still hold out that one possibility is that that the deviations being seen are mainly on the SURFACE of the coins, and thus it being the ground that is contributing.  For instance, Oklahoma has very irony-red dirt; would a war nickel with "crud" on it, show up as having iron content, when the iron is really in the "crud," and not the nickel itself?

I've wondered myself about the location of the eddy currents in metal objects.  But one piece of evidence we have to show it's not right on the surface -- clad coins.  The fact that they show high conductivity (characteristic of copper and thus their cores) indicates it's not purely a surface effect.  So my conclusion is that what you are seeing is deeper than some surface layer/scale/etc.

[Cabin Fever]

Found one of those oddball War Nickels that read high today.  It’s a 43 S and rang up 17-18.  It has a black corrosion on it that is real hard to chip off. Feels like a crusty Zinc.. definitely not a normal type of corrosion I’m used to seeing on a War Nickel which tend to come out nice and bright or with a slight yellow tinge .

Also found a decent 23 S Buffalo that came in the usual 12-13.  

Bryan

[GB_Amateur]

The Warnick mystery continues -- chicken or egg.  Is it the corrosion that's causing the high reading or is it a (non-standard) alloy with its high reading that is leading to the unusual corrosion?

Nice Buffie.  I can see that you had to work it over to make it look nice.  Nickels in particular have a difficult time surviving unscathed after many decades in the ground.  Any full date Buffie is a good find in my book.  S mintmarks typically even better.

 

 

[Alluminati]

Is it the silver '43 nickle that this thread is about? The black stuff looks similar to the sulfide you would expect on a sulfide coin.

I would expect it to ring up higher then a regular American nickle as it doesn't have any magnetic nickle in it, just copper silver and a bit of mag all non ferrous.

[SnohomishDigger]

Picked up this nice V nickel yesterday. It rang at a consistent 11/12.