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Indian Head penny and 1964
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4 posts in this topic

Hi Hurley,

You don't have to leave us alone......we like helping people who want to learn!  As for the colors on your coins, it's toning and environmental damage, both of which are the result of the metals your coins are made of reacting with other chemicals out in the environment while in circulation.  Copper and Zinc are both very reactive metals and they can do some weird things when reacting with things in the environment.

I hope that this helps!
~Tom

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Some of the color can also be the result of thin film interference and the color is caused by the light that reflects after passing through the thin oxidation film interfering withthe light that reflects off the top surface.  The light waves either add or subtract  in intensity and the colors that result is a function of the thickness of the film.

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