Hexagon shaped particles on coins!!??

[RecRo]

Good evening all. I just started coin hunting about a year ago. As you know this hobby demands a vast amount of time, dedication and patience before you even begin to understand what you’re looking for and actually seeing. Last year I was roll hunting in .25c rolls. I came across a 1993 quarter that looked faked. It’s was strange due to the fact that the obverse or tail side was mostly covered with hexagon translucent multi-color particles. If you look at the quarter head on the particles disappear but if you tilt the quarter at an angle it glows of these particles. Still I didn’t believe it could be a mint error. As my hunting progressed I’ve found a total of 5 coins with the similar hexagon particles that are years apart. Aside from the 1993 quarter I also possess 4 pennies baring the hexagon particles but they are not translucent or multi colored but solid colors. The pennies years rang e from 1987, 2002, 2020 and 2021. Another thing I noticed was that the particles are embedded into the surface of the coins and are not easily removed. Does anyone know of or has ever heard of this type of error?

[Dutch-Tigger]

Good evening all. I just started coin hunting about a year ago. As you know this hobby demands a vast amount of time, dedication and patience before you even begin to understand what you’re looking for and actually seeing. Last year I was roll hunting in .25c rolls. I came across a 1993 quarter that looked faked. It’s was strange due to the fact that the obverse or tail side was mostly covered with hexagon translucent multi-color particles. If you look at the quarter head on the particles disappear but if you tilt the quarter at an angle it glows of these particles. Still I didn’t believe it could be a mint error. As my hunting progressed I’ve found a total of 5 coins with the similar hexagon particles that are years apart. Aside from the 1993 quarter I also possess 4 pennies baring the hexagon particles but they are not translucent or multi colored but solid colors. The pennies years rang e from 1987, 2002, 2020 and 2021. Another thing I noticed was that the particles are embedded into the surface of the coins and are not easily removed. Does anyone know of or has ever heard of this type of error?

Wellcome , first you need to post only one coin to as not to cause confusion, it appears some foreign substances was added by someone having fun with the coins. This will be considered PMD.. Post Mint Damage or environmental damage.

[pnwmakes]

Give it a soak in 100% acetone

[RecRo]

Any acetone like nail polish remover?

[pnwmakes]

No 100% acetone you can buy it any local hardware store.

[Paul]

Welcome

First, we need individuals here to stop telling people to clean their coins!

What you are seeing is a "Surface Contamination".

Using high-power magnification will also intensify the reflective issues caused by a foreign contaminant… Which is likely what you are seeing....... a crystallization of whatever that substance may be.

These coins should be considered as "CULL".....JMO

[Iceresistance]

It really looks like someone put glitter on this coin.

[Daniel]

Looks like they had hologram paint on them and someone tried to remove most of it. Acetone can't harm a coin, let alone a coin that is already cull. So I have no issue with acetone advice. We see too many coins posted with a substance on them and removing the substance with acetone will not harm the coin, it actually helps the coin.

[Earle42]

I agree.

I also want to save you a lot of time.

Most odd looking things on coins are just post mint damage. So looking for random anomalies on coins and hoping they match up to something collectable will take you a lot more time, wasted effort, and disappointment repeatedly finding out you have nothing but post mint damage or useless machine doubling, die deterioration, etc.

Spend some initial time at places like error-ref.com, doubleddie.com, varietyvista.com, conecaonline.org, coppercoins.com etc. to find what actual and collectable coin errors look like.

A good way to start is, for instance, is to get a box of rolls of pennies from the bank. Separate all the pennies by date and mint mark. Go to varietyvista.com and, date by date, use the reference there to see what errors are known for that specific coin/mint mark. Look for those specific errors/varieties using the pictures provided. After doing this for awhile you will KNOW what an actual error looks like and not have to waste time on face value and damaged coins.