RWB

Some years ago, at the Sleepy Hollow Coin Show in Tarrytown, New York a Headless Hessian wandered about asking for a dealer named "Ichabod," who was not to be found. When the show opened the next morning, all the gold was missing from every showcase,and the Hessian was not to be found.

Badly eroded dies...

Certain alloys inhibit tarnishing, and corrosion so having 75% copper is irrelevant.

Counterfeits of other Kennedy halves have been fabricated in Colorado. Maybe this is just another fake....? Or maybe the OP is.... So hard to tell.

? Merely an attempt to make the OP's presentation a little more presentable -- presentably speaking, that is.

Here's a "better" version of your 1896 dollar, followed by an authentic UNC 1896 from the NGC database.

The presumed scam is: Crook enters small store and selects items totaling less than 5-cents. He/she fishes in pocket/purse and pulls out a plated nickel, placing it on the counter. Crook waits for merchant to offer $4.95 change. If only correct change offered, crook accepts 1 or 2-cents. In both cases the crook does not reveal anything about the plated nickel. If challenged by merchant, crook retrieves plated nickel, apologizes profusely for their error. Merchants will likely pass information to others on the block and local police officer. Small town and urban neighborhood merchants were quick to distribute information on fakes and scams. Ethnic neighborhoods were particularly close knit about "outsiders" offering deals. As with any similar coin transaction, the last one accepting the coin is stuck with it, if their bank rejects it.

Sounds as if the only "correct" answer is by the possessor of the only "correct" and secure methodology. A competent density test will quickly determine if the coin is a silver alloy of CuNi clad copper. But --- who can do that "correctly" and be trusted by the possessor. Too many self-approving constraints for reasonable work.

Gold plated 1883 Liberty nickels contemporary to that year are extremely difficult to authenticate. I've never seen a complete description of one in official or high-quality publications of the time. Further, many different people made these and thus the workmanship, especially on reeding, would vary. The base coin is expected to be Unc or very close to it, with thickness and uniformity of plating varying. Reeding would have been done before plating. Altered coin should have nearly original appearance sufficient to fool casual observation. It is unlikely that many nickels with drilled-out and lead-filled interiors were made due to the short time these could have circulated before wide publicity of gold plating. (See my book Fads, Fakes and Foibles for the story of this design and its rationale.) Here is a short newspaper article about gold plated nickels. Order for change of design: March 16, 1883 Sir, I have received your letter of the 14th inst., submitting for approval a change in the arrangement of the inscriptions upon the reverse of the five cent nickel coin as follows: The legend “E Pluribus Unum” to be taken from below the wreath, and placed above the same, and the word “cents” to be inserted below the wreath. You are hereby authorized to make this change and to commence the coinage and issue of the pieces as soon as practicable. Very respectfully, Horatio C. Burchard, Director

There was a persistent fantasy, fueled by irresponsible newspaper filler, that FE cents contained gold. Another version had gold in large coppers. This is in a similar "bin of ignorance" as the Sack "golden dollars" containing gold.

"White Cent" or "White Penny" used in a letter: Wilmington, Del., March 12, 1890 United States Mint I beg you to inform me with enclosed card, whether you exchange all white pennies, or only those which have the Eagle Brand on one side of it, as a party told me, you pay $9.00 for 300 white pennies. Yours Very truly, Ella Riuck 807 West 5th Street

It might be a dropped letter that fell off the turnip truck down south.... ?

So minor as to be of no value.

The contemporary term was "white cents." Silver coins were considered "white" and gold was called "gold" or occasionally "orange." However, only the CuNi cents from 1856-1864 were ever routinely referred to by the metal's color.

New CuNi cents were called "white cents" because of their light copper color. Over time, these lightly tone to darker shades. If a cent is cleaned, the process roughly starts over again. when the Philadelphia Mint began redeeming these, the pieces were melted, a little nickel metal was added and then used to strike shield nickels.

Anyone who wants to see how to easily pick out an AU coin can hop over to VAMworld: http://www.vamworld.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6963 Nice, clear, and simple example. It won't work on anything except a "real" AU coin. (Now, check out all those MS coins with wear....)

Barely visible and barely worth anything. "Clearly visible; clearly worth something."

Here's the NGC slab. I'm pleased with the coin for what it is, not what the little paper says.

Seems like good fun term even if not technically accurate.

"Honest wear" = a colloquialism referring to ordinary and routine wear rather than intentional abrasion or damage.

"Exploding stars" are one of the defects caused by not using a closed/close collar. The metal stretches under pressure -- kind of like a pregnant woman's striae as the womb enlarges -- except coin stretch marks never go away. Luster is uniform and present throughout. This piece merely has a little honest commercial wear.

I acquired this nice classic EF grade 1813 O-110 simply for its rugged incompetence and character. [EF = obvious wear on high points but has considerable luster remaining.]

Thank you! I merely do what I can, as best I can.

Congratulations, you've already started and made substantial advancement, although that might not be immediately evident! Examining and assessing a coin - independent of price, hype, or sales pressure - is a fundamental to learning the hobby of numismatics and getting maximum enjoyment. Asking thoughtful questions also points to clearer understanding and more rapid progress. (There's a "new" member here who began just a few months ago, and who has made immense progress based on a similar approach as yours. He contributed to this thread.)

Let's be frank about damaged coins: they have no future. They will always be damaged and will always trade as such.