Grading Canadian nickel question

[nero12345]

I'm grading some Canadian King George V 1911-1936 nickels and I was reading up some stuff and came across this from Calgarycoin
I'm not sure what 6-8 pearls he's talking about. I am sure I'm missing something here, he's pretty knowledgable as I've dealt with him in the past. I did email him but thought I'd ask here as well.

Thanks for any input, Owen.

FIVE CENT NICKELS

GEORGE V (continued)

1922 saw a dramatic change in the Canadian 5 cent coins. Today we call these coins nickels because they were made of nickel. The weight was increased to 4.54 grams (100 to the pound which was not a coincidence) with a diameter to 21.21 mm. The pre-1922 obverse design by Sir E. B. Mackennal is retained, but there is a new reverse design, by W. H. J. Blakemore.

The Royal Canadian Mint was not set up for striking nickel, a much harder alloy than silver or bronze. If you examine many of these coins in high grades you will find the strikes are not consistent. This results from the mint sourcing their nickel from the International Nickel Company (INCO) which used a furnace based refining method producing nickel that varied between 88 and 92% pure, varying even within one batch. Two nickels struck from same nickel sheet could have slightly different purity with purer the alloy the softer it was. Nickels struck on 92% pure blanks strike better and might have all 8 pearls on the crown band, while those at the harder 88% nickel might only show 6 or even only 4 pearls. This means the usual rule that George V coin cannot be XF or better without all 8 pearls visible does not apply to these nickels and other features must be examined to determine the amount of wear on the coins, such as wear on the leaves on the reverse and the amount of lustre present. For examples grading XF or better I will state how many of the pearls are visible. Price guides only assume average 6 bead strikes, so I charge a premium for 8 pearl examples with the amount of premium related to the strength of the pearls in front of the center diamond.

This information came out on March 2, 2014 at an Edmonton coin show reception where I heard Mark Bink (an metallurgist who studies these alloys) comment that 1961 was the year the beaver got it's whiskers back. I asked him what that meant and he explained to me the inconsistent nature of the alloys and how in 1961 the mint changed to Sherritt nickel which is chemically refined and is 100% pure nickel, which is softer and strikes better, but also more subject to bag marking. A discussion followed where I brought up the erratic striking characteristics of the coins, and we suddenly realized how the two were directly related.

Nickels saw extensive use in parking meters and vending machines which caused scratches, commonly known as "meter marks". Such scratches are to be expected on nickels grading VG or lower, but we will note them if they are heavy. On coins grading Fine or higher we will note any such scratches, no matter how light, and discount the prices accordingly. When I list a coin Fine or higher and do not note such marks, you should receive a coin free of such marks.

[henrysmedford]

You might ask that of this group. http://www.coinsandcanada.com/forum/. If you reed French join that group as it is more active. If you post on the English site I will PM members in the know and ask them there thoughts.

Joe

[nero12345]

You might ask that of this group. http://www.coinsandcanada.com/forum/. If you reed French join that group as it is more active. If you post on the English site I will PM members in the know and ask them there thoughts.

Joe

Thanks, my French is weak but I can read it as long as I don't have to write to much they won't know.

Thanks, Owen.

[henrysmedford]

You might ask that of this group. http://www.coinsandcanada.com/forum/. If you reed French join that group as it is more active. If you post on the English site I will PM members in the know and ask them there thoughts.

Joe

Thanks, my French is weak but I can read it as long as I don't have to write to much they won't know.

Thanks, Owen.

Then post on the English side.

[nero12345]

You might ask that of this group. http://www.coinsandcanada.com/forum/. If you reed French join that group as it is more active. If you post on the English site I will PM members in the know and ask them there thoughts.

Joe

Thanks, my French is weak but I can read it as long as I don't have to write to much they won't know.

Thanks, Owen.

Then post on the English side.

Just waiting for admin to approve me. Thanks

[mtalbot_ca]

I read something similar about the % of purity of the nickel. It is well known that the quality of an MS coins have to come from other high points than the one on the effigy side. Let me check....

However the pearls are referring to the headband of the crown. 8 pearls could be showing in between the settings of a larger gem, but I never saw a crown band with 8 pearls, the second set from the left is always missing.

Here is a picture:

headband.png (118.01 KiB) Viewed 2419 times

[nero12345]

Thanks for the info and the picture.

[nero12345]

I got an email back from Robert at Calgarycoin. Pretty much mtalbot was saying but thought I'd post it anyway.

They are the small beads on the band of the crown, separating the jewels. Two of them between each jewel. On most specimens we see they are mostly worn off. The two in front of the center diamond are the important to as they are the first to wear off and on many coins are not struck up properly to start with.

Robert


Thanks to all for the help.

[mtalbot_ca]

I passed on the questions to a friend .... Let's see what happens!

[JadeDragon]

Like in the photo, the pearls are the dots between the jewels. That's it.

[mtalbot_ca]

Like in the photo, the pearls are the dots between the jewels. That's it.

Yes I think so too, but I asked about the metal composition of the planchets and how it affected the strike.

We'll see...

[mtalbot_ca]

Hello,

To put this matter to rest, I had a friend that confirmed that:

Quote:

ANY and ALL of the George V and George VI 5-cents I have analyzed have anywhere from 99.5% to 99.7% Ni (with the remaining being traces of Co and Fe). Hardness and softness of the nickel coins is related to the annealing process.

Of course, I would have to analyze _thousands_ of coins to have any statistical relevance, but in the small sample set that I have, I completely trust my XRF in terms of its analysis (remember, I use that same machine for research), it is very rare to have a 5-cent nickel coin containing less than 99% Ni.

I even found a nickel that was blue (1949) and it had a composition of 98.5% Ni and 1.5% Co.

Unquote.