what is this...

[smyth]

blue tinge on the edge of the left hand side of the canadian penny? What causes it?

 

[elsaspet]

Bad White Balance.
Nice photo though. Good macro!

 

[Hertz van Rental]

Bad White Balance.

It's more likely to be chromatic abberation. It is either the lens itself or something on the lens (a supplementary, a filter, a bit of grease). It's when the different wavelengths of light focus slightly differently. At it's worst (plastic lenses for example) you can get rainbows forming on edges.
Most standard lenses that come with DSLR's can suffer from this in certain circumstances. Usually when they are on wide-angle you can get it towards the edge of frame. That's because the 'kit' lens is always the cheapest one the company makes.
Zoom lenses tend to suffer more than standards.
This is why you pay so much more for a 'pro' lens.