Its definitely not "copper colored", I scratched it to be sure. It also smells just like a penny. Anyone know if it carries any kind of value?
Actually a 5 cent coin is made of .750 copper and .250 nickel. The copper color does not come from the copper as much as it comes from the water the coin was in for a long time. It is not a mint error but actually damage done outside the mint. The copper color may actually go quite deep but not all the way through it. You are not the first nor the last to ask that question here. There are no pure copper nickels nor were there ever any. The environment is to blame for a lot of strange looking coins. It has no extra value.
Well, every nickel is 75% copper and just 25% nickel, so the 'smell' test is not reliable. Nickels can become 'copper colored' for several reasons, including the copper reacting with something the coin is exposed to after leaving the mint, or a group of planchets (the coin blanks) being improperly annealed (a step in the coin-making process that leaves them a darker, brownish color, and quality control not catching them before leaving the mint. An improperly annealed planchet is a fairly scarce error and could be worth $25 and up, depending on how scarce that error is for that date. A coin that was exposed to something post-mint that leached copper to the surface is a damaged coin with no extra value.
