# Did I just find a conterfeit nickel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 16, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658 "2004-06-16T15:00:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/21 "2004-06-16T20:52:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think that muriatic acid is still available to private individuals, if you want to try this experiment yourself. You can find it at Home Depot. It’s used as a treatment for concrete prior to sealing or painting. ---
**Author:** ![FX45\_4Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4bbf92/32.png) [@FX45\_4Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FX45_4Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/22 "2004-06-16T20:58:21Z")
Perhaps a two-part magic nickel? you hide another smaller coin inside. look for ridge on the edge… :dubious: my WAG ---
**Author:** ![FX45\_4Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4bbf92/32.png) [@FX45\_4Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FX45_4Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/23 "2004-06-16T21:00:17Z")
CITE!CITE!CITE!CITE!CITE! gOogle : [CITE!](http://aia.lackland.af.mil/homepages/pa/spokesman/Apr04/heritage.cfm) ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/24 "2004-06-16T21:23:49Z")
> [@Joe Mahma](#): > > Nobody would bother to counterfeit a nickel. [Wanna Bet?](http://home.earthlink.net/~smalldollars/dollar/add014.html) ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/25 "2004-06-16T21:33:35Z")
> [@erislover](#): > > I’ve notched a 1980 and a 1981 penny and didn’t see any obvious zinc. One of the notches is even a good 2mm deep. Either way, they’re sitting in 0.5N HCl right now. Worth a shot! They switched to the zinc filled ones in the middle of 1982. Easiest way to tell which a particular 1982 penny is, is to drop it on a desk and listen to the ringing (copper :)) or lack thereof (zinc :(). ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/26 "2004-06-16T21:35:37Z")
Actually, it’s a really high-pitched ringing. If you can’t hear that high of a frequency, a zinc penny is noticeably lighter than a copper one. ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/27 "2004-06-16T21:49:53Z")
I don’t think he will or should. I’m pretty sure what he meant, and as he said, it would rather spoil the secret. However, if you’re really determined to glean some secret out of this thread, [here’s one that’s already been spilled.](http://www.island.net/~times/timesdir/times3/nickel.htm) (Alluded to by the OP and EffiePoo) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/28 "2004-06-16T22:44:27Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > [Wanna Bet?](http://home.earthlink.net/~smalldollars/dollar/add014.html) That pointed to a site with counterfeit dollars on it. [Here](http://varietynickels.com/articles/1944no-p.htm) is a guy who counterfeited 1944 Jefferson nickels. He figured no one would pay much attention to a nickel. Ironically, he got caught because his had no mint mark on them; for some reason the mint put out that year nickels with ‘P’ for Philadelphia instead of no mark at all like they usually did. DD ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/29 "2004-06-16T22:47:08Z")
:smack: Sorry, **postcards**. Next time I’ll read the text instead of just looking at the pictures. _My_ site has pictures of the nickels in question, though. DD ---
**Author:** ![caymus28](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@caymus28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caymus28)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/30 "2004-06-16T23:05:30Z")
I’ve noticed another curiosity- if you look at other nickels, with the picture of Jefferson upright, and then flip it over, the image on the reverse of the coin is upside down; in fact it is so on all the coins (quarters, dimes, and pennies). The image on the reverse side of my nickel is on a bias, about 45 degrees. Does this clue anyone in??? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/31 "2004-06-16T23:14:05Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > You can find it at Home Depot. It’s used as a treatment for concrete prior to sealing or painting. You can also find it in your stomach; hydrochloric acid is part of your digestive system’s chemistry set (not that I’m suggesting this is _useful_ in any way other than digestion). ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/32 "2004-06-16T23:20:03Z")
**Caymus28** : Send me an email. I work just up the road from you, in Dayton. I’m good buddies with the physicist who runs our micro-analysis lab. He has a lab full of neat analytical instruments (scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR and UV-VIS spectroscopy, etc.), and I could easily talk him into checking it out. (Plus he owes me a favor!) [magcraft@main-net.com](mailto:magcraft@main-net.com) ---
**Author:** ![Harmonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Harmonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonix)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/33 "2004-06-16T23:57:00Z")
Don’t mind me… I just couldn’t figure out how to suscribe to this thread without posting… Anyway, updates updates! and um, do you really recommend x-ray diffraction analysis? If there really is a roll of microfilm in that coin wouldn’t the xrays damage it? I say cut it carefully open, call the FBI if he finds anything. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/34 "2004-06-17T00:07:45Z")
> [@Harmonix](#): > > there really is a roll of microfilm in that coin wouldn’t the xrays damage it? Nope. X-rays will only fog film before it’s been developed. Presumable any putative microfilm in the coin will have been developed first. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/35 "2004-06-17T00:08:21Z")
> [@KP](#): > > if you’re really determined to glean some secret out of this thread, [here’s one that’s already been spilled.](http://www.island.net/~times/timesdir/times3/nickel.htm) (Alluded to by the OP and EffiePoo) And also described thoroughly in a link provided by **Mr. Moto** in post #7 of this thread. Read before posting, folks! ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/36 "2004-06-17T00:22:08Z")
I was going to ask about the orientation of the faces, since your photos suggested that they weren’t lined up. Since you’ve confirmed that, you clearly have a prepared or faked coin of some kind. The question is, is it a magic trick coin, or an espionage device? Could it be anything else? If it really is hollow and prepared to hold something inside, then cutting seems to me a bad idea, since presumably it was designed to be opened non-destructively. **Peter Morris** seems to be implying that a magnet might open it. Have you tried that yet? (And BTW **Peter** , why all the secrecy?) I’m not a scientist, but I don’t see how an SEM or spectroscope would help in figuring it out. Taking an X-ray of it might, but it’s not clear that **Crafter\_Man** ’s buddy has that capability. And **Harmonix** , x-rays wouldn’t damage microfilm unless it hadn’t been developed yet, which is highly unlikely in this case. If that were the case, you’d have to open it in total darkness to preserve the image on the film, and that probably won’t happen, either. I say play with it, look closely for seams or other irregularities, and try and figure how to open it without destroying it. AND LET US KNOW WHAT YOU FIND OUT!!! ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/37 "2004-06-17T00:46:30Z")
> [@Harmonix](#): > > Don’t mind me… I just couldn’t figure out how to suscribe to this thread without posting… > Anyway, updates updates! > > and um, do you really recommend x-ray diffraction analysis? If there really is a roll of microfilm in that coin wouldn’t the xrays damage it? I say cut it carefully open, call the FBI if he finds anything. Following the last post in a thread, go further down and on the left is the ‘subscribe to this thread’ thingy. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/38 "2004-06-17T01:57:30Z")
Speaking as a chemical engineer, I really must advise against fooling around with muriatic acid. The stuff that you buy to clean concrete is much more concentrated than the acid in your stomache. It can cause chemical burns if you get any on your skin, and if you get any in your eyes, it could cause vision damage or blind you. (I have a small scar on my arm, thanks to a little misadventure involving acid back in a college chemistry lab.) ---
**Author:** ![tadc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@tadc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tadc)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/39 "2004-06-17T02:00:46Z")
> [@ltfire](#): > > Following the last post in a thread, go further down and on the left is the ‘subscribe to this thread’ thingy. 🆒 It’s not there for me. It is, however, available under the “thread tools” pulldown at the top of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658/40 "2004-06-17T02:07:26Z")
What you likely have is a nickel made for a magic trick. Putting your 5 cent peice in HCl wouldn’t solve anything. That’s for later pennies, and not nickels at all. SO DON’T DO THAT!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-just-find-a-conterfeit-nickel/250658.md?page=3)