oh no what happened

[ResurrectedVirginia]

My poor V nickel. It was in remarkable condition when I dug it. I could perfectly read "liberty" on the head dress. When I recovered it I put it in a pill bottle with cotton balls. It stayed closed up till later that night but only for a short while. It was bottled back up and sat in my room for a few days till I showed my dad. I pulled it out place it on some newspaper ( it was perfectly fine ) I turned around for a few minuets and then looked back to see this. My guess is that it rapidly dried out and the corroded layer on top pealed off. Its a real shame, it was so nice.
What can I do to prevent this next time.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Upgraded Night Vision Monocular Digital Infrared Monocular Telescope for 100% Darkness with 8X Zoom - Grab it through Amazon!

[Uncle Jeff]

I think your dad swapped coins on you

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

Thats very odd that it would do that so quickly

 

[jeff of pa]

looks like the Mud had most of the detail in it's toning
as it Dried , Cracked & peeled it just Disappeared.

This is one reason you should never clean old coins,
it removes the Toning.

I don't think there is a cure for Nickels.
washed or not the ground doesn't help

I like dug "V's no matter what condition.

So Congrats on the Find

 

[huntsman53]

Without being witness to what happened and seeing the coin prior to this, any kind of theory as to what happened to it, would only be conjecture. However, if I had to venture a guess, I would say that either something (medicine) that was previously in the bottle, the cotton balls or the plastic pill bottle (i.e. any one or two or all of them) caused a chemical reaction when it was placed in the open air. The plastic of the bottle could be breaking down, a chemical was used on the cotton balls or the medicine that was previously in the bottle are all possible candidates. With the coin sealed in the plastic bottle and something giving off chemical gases, the gases would attach to and possibly permeate any porous surfaces of the coin. Next time, seal the coin in a clean glass bottle or jar and you can add a little Mineral Oil to protect it from any chemical reaction.


Frank

 

[watercolor]

I've found a lot of V-Nickels and have never had ONE that was in decent shape.
Most all have been pitted due to corrosion from soil conditions.

Many times mineral encrustation will appear to have preserved the original detail of a coin.
However, underneath all that crust, nature has done her work with acidic soil conditions
and once the crust is removed, all that's left is a "sandpaper-like" surface with minimal detail.

One time I found a wonderful 1910-S wheat penny that was somewhat encrusted. I could hardly
wait to get it home to a nice hydrogen peroxide bath to dissolve the crust. Well, after
bathtime, all that was left was a pitted copper slug with hardly any detail.

 

[fistfulladirt]

I like the idea of submersing in mineral oil, possibly even when fresh dug. I've unearthed many coins with patina like that especially IH's, and shield nickel, once they hit the atmosphere the damage begins. Not much one can do sometimes, but congrats either way.

 

[Joe777Cool]

 

[ResurrectedVirginia]

Uncle Jeff - lol ik it it was that ******* all along!!
Diggin N Dumps - ik it literally happened within a minuet or two. Just poof ruined.
jeff of pa - I understand what you are saying but the weird part is that I HARDLY TOUCHED IT. It literally came out of the ground perfect. There was dirt on it and I think I remember giving it a quick wipe off on my pants just to see what it was, but right after that it went into the bottle. The events I listed then occurred.
huntsman53 - I like how you are thinking it didn't occur to me that that may have been the issue. But no that I am thinking about it I am doubting it. The bottle went through the dishwasher before I started using them, the cotton balls came out clean from a bag (I have been reusing them ever since though ), the only thing in the bottles and on the cotton balls is dust and I would think that the dust would absorb most of the chemicals if any. For now on I will bring a separate jar with some oil in it.

water color - same here I have even found modern nickels in worse shape than my v nickels but I swear I perfectly saw a mint condition nickel till it evaporated. The soil was great. I have some beautiful IH pennies that came from the same place.

thanks every one from now on oil will be on the pack list

 

[CoinHuntingDrew]

I've found a lot of V-Nickels and have never had ONE that was in decent shape.
Most all have been pitted due to corrosion from soil conditions.

Many times mineral encrustation will appear to have preserved the original detail of a coin.
However, underneath all that crust, nature has done her work with acidic soil conditions
and once the crust is removed, all that's left is a "sandpaper-like" surface with minimal detail.

One time I found a wonderful 1910-S wheat penny that was somewhat encrusted. I could hardly
wait to get it home to a nice hydrogen peroxide bath to dissolve the crust. Well, after
bathtime, all that was left was a pitted copper slug with hardly any detail.

Ya know it's funny you say that about the 1910 S. I received a 1910 S in the mail from a fellow youtuber who was new to detecting and sent me his crap wheats (i asked him too if he was willing, so maybe i could get dates). He didn't know it was a '10 S, but I noticed it. There's these green, thick, encrusted dots on the coin. Is that what yours is like?
Any idea how to remove it? The 1910 S has GREAT green luster underneath, there gotta be a way to remove it safely. The only problem with the coin is the corrosion starting to happen on the rim. Other than that, without the green crap and the corrosion, it would have been an easy VF-20+ details

 

[wpsgta1000]

A few years back I dug a zinc Nazi Germany coin in perfect condition. I rinsed it off and allowed it to dry then put it in a mylar 2x2 holder. A few months later while looking at my finds I noticed that the coin looked "blurry". Opened up the holder and the coin had literally turned to dust.