A close year on the date would be helpful. There is a S mint mark. Help appreciated! Should I try and see if I can get a date with some chemicals?
Nicadate is the only solution that will help. Maybe try taking a rubbing with paper and a soft-lead pencil. Unlikely to get anything but would be the best way without chemicals.
Yeah.... I rather think that one will require chemicals to bring up a date. Usually overnight in a cup of vinegar with a dab of peroxide will do the trick, but it turns the nickel ghost white. Usually shows a date though.
Lemon juice or other acidic fluids can help bring up the date, but my question is; "Why?" After raising the date, it is a damaged coin and if it turned out to be collectible, it isn't worth much now.
I get your point, but not entirely true. If it turns out to be a huge DDO or a semi or key date, it will improve the value over a $0.50 buffalo
A restored key or semi-key date is worth more than a dateless buff, by a lot. It's worth a lot less than a non-damaged key or semi-key, true. But lots of people need hole fillers.
For fun, I checked ebay for restored date 1915-S buffalo nickels (a semi-key). Prices are all over the map, but they sure are selling. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...ored+date+1915-s&_sacat=0&rt=nc&LH_Complete=1
50/50 white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. Watch it closely. It’ll raises date and let you know what you have.
As noted above, what you need is acid to etch the coin to raise the date. Vinegar alone will do the trick but may take a day or so to do it. The hydrogen peroxide accelerates the process. But you have to watch it. One thing to keep in mind is that for some dateless nickels you can date them by the ribbon. This is important since by doing this you can avoid devaluing the coin by etching it. Larry’s coin predates the 1920’s. It’s older since around the late 1920s you can expect to find a date. Good luck on the hunt!
I'm actually working on a CRH Dateless Buffalo Whitman coin folder. Affectionately known as my Pickled Nickel collection. I had accumulated 3-4 rolls of dateless Buffalo and decided to pickle the nickels...I was surprised at the dates/mms that are still floating around. You might be too!! Have fun, Sal!!
