What does this to coins?

[drenalin11]

Some of the pennies I find look really eaten up

What causes this? It seems the newer coins have it more that older... May just be coincidence?

And all of the quarters, dimes and nickels come out reddish

And what's the cause of this also?


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[Jason in Enid]

The cause of it is a horrible decision by the US mint. After 1983 the US penny was changed from a copper alloy to a zinc coin with a thin copper clad shell. Since dis-similar metals become a battery in the presence of an acid or alkaline solution, as soon as the pennies go into the ground or the water, they begin to eat themselves. It happens about 100 times fast in an ocean environment.

 

[Chug And Red]

There is your answer Zink coins Suck And Dissolve Hate those things HH Chug

 

[drenalin11]

So what make me the nickels, dimes and quarters turn red?


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[Honest Samuel]

I enjoy picking up pennies on streets and sidewalks.

 

[Jason in Enid]

So what make me the nickels, dimes and quarters turn red?


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Its the reaction between the soil and the copper/nickle mixture used. There are several method to clean them such as a gravel tumbler, scrubbing, chemicals, etc but none of them are really necessary. As long as they are clean of dirt, they'll go through a coin counter just fine. Every time I find a brown coin in my change I always wonder if it was one I put back into circulation, or some other detectorist.

 

[against the wind]

Nickels will go through a chemical reaction when they spend some time in the ground. The coin consists of 75% copper and 25% nickel. The exception is what is often referred to as the "War Nickel " It has a 56% copper, 35% Silver, and 9% maganese composition. Because of the Silver, most of my War Nickels will come out of the ground kind of blackish.
Clad coins started to be minted in 1965. (Silver coinage stopped in 1964) . The outer clad layer of a 1965 to present,, coin consists of a .250% nickel and a .750% copper shell that is bonded to an inner core of pure copper. The chemical reaction that occurs with a buried coin wears the finish layer down. You end up with orange colored nickels, dimes, and quarters.
Now about the clad pennies and the "Eaten" condition they are in when they come out of the ground. These are what we refer to as "Zincolns"
In 1982, the penny composition was changed to a copper shell over a zinc core. The core is .992% zinc. The plating is .008% copper.
Now when a Zincolns come into contact with nitrates,
(as in fertilizer ), or salt, (as in snow melt), the penny decomposes rapidly.

 

[Deft Tones]

Fun experiment! Scratch a modern penny exposing some zinc. Place that penny in Coke. Place an undamaged penny in another container of coke. Time the reaction.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

Nickels will go through a chemical reaction when they spend some time in the ground. The coin consists of 75% copper and 25% nickel. The exception is what is often referred to as the "War Nickel " It has a 56% copper, 35% Silver, and 9% maganese composition. Because of the Silver, most of my War Nickels will come out of the ground kind of blackish.
Clad coins started to be minted in 1965. (Silver coinage stopped in 1964) . The outer clad layer of a 1965 to present,, coin consists of a .250% nickel and a .750% copper shell that is bonded to an inner core of pure copper. The chemical reaction that occurs with a buried coin wears the finish layer down. You end up with orange colored nickels, dimes, and quarters.
Now about the clad pennies and the "Eaten" condition they are in when they come out of the ground. These are what we refer to as "Zincolns"
In 1982, the penny composition was changed to a copper shell over a zinc core. The core is .992% zinc. The plating is .008% copper.
Now when a Zincolns come into contact with nitrates,
(as in fertilizer ), or salt, (as in snow melt), the penny decomposes rapidly.

The only thing I will add is not all coins stopped having Silver the exception was the half dollar 1965 to 1970 were 40% Silver.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Silver halves, quarters and dimes are still being produced from the US mint since 1992. I've found some in circulation via roll hunting.

 

[masterjedi]

In farm fields especially... "fertilizer" is one of the culprits...

 

[GA_Boy]

A penny found is a penny earned.
Marvin