This coin is rotting from within

[Guest]

I was searching as usual and just had to show the folks here and get opinions. This Lincoln is deteriorating from the inside out, the copper plating is pushing out from the coin and what looks like salt is emanating from the pores or openings. Anyone ever see this phenomenon before?

[Steven]

Before long it will probably look a bit like this.

[jcuve]

Zinc oxidizes easily and quickly. There was probably tiny splits in the plating, then with the zinc exposed, the coin was likely in water or some other poor location for a while causing the zinc to rapidly oxidize and expand outward from inside the plating.

[corroded]

Do you like to do what I like to do? Find one that has a large opening in the skin, put your scope on 30X and see what's crawling around down in that hole? Aint it
gruesome?

Bill

[jcuve]

I know on a coin forum, somewhere, at some point in the last 18 months, a chemical was mentioned, if the coin was submerged, it would eat away the zinc (if a small hole was present) and not damage the copper leaving just an empty shell.

Not important but zincoxide (which is white with a bluish tint) is used as a pigment in oil paints. If I collected enough from some rotting plated Lincs, I could grind it in linseed oil and maybe have a few brushstrokes worth of white...