Can V Nickel Dates be Revealed with Acid?

I traded another CT member for the set. I have no idea how they were processed.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I’ve found that some nickels take longer to see the date than others. If you leave Nic-a-Date on too long, that’s what leaves the brown spot. It also brings out the date that needs a longer treatment.

 

Yes sir, the ones that have the dark spot did require more time for the date to become visible. I'm interested in trying the "pickle" solution on a few to see what that does? I have no idea how long to leave in the solution? Guess I'll experiment? That's dangerous for a redneck country boy! "Hey y'all, watch this", lol.

 

Most people leave Nic-a-Date for too long, waiting to see a date rise up. That's where the brown spot occurs. Doing it several times quickly lessens the chance of this happening. I only found this out by doing many over the years. The vinegar trick works but same thing, don't leave it too long or etching will occur.

 

If you decide to experiment be sure to post the results in a new thread.

 

Thank you for your post. Do you have a starting time to use to experiment with? Are we talking about seconds or minutes? Right now I was thinking about starting with 30 seconds and go from there. But, that may be too long, or not even close to long enough? Thanks again

 

I tested the vinegar method with one corroded Buffalo Nickel before I soaked the rest. It was very worn and I think I probably left a bit too long, but anyway it took 18 days.

 

Thank you. That is longer than I expected, but gives me an idea as to days not seconds. I'll probably start with a few hours on some of the better ones, just to see? But, will probably go a day at a time, but not expecting results for several days. Thanks again.

 

I usually start early in the day when I'm going to be home. I check the coin once an hour to see it's progress. Remove the coin from the vinegar and rinse each time and check the date. If nothing then go ahead for another hour and repeat. Yes, it can be time consuming but once a date appears you are set and lessen the risk of etching occurring. Some dates will rise quicker than others and much depends on what you are trying to get through to get to the date. If the coin is just smooth, then it will take less time. If trying to get through a lot of crud, then more time and you will need a soft bristle tooth brush to help things along. Mr. N above had a coin that was probably pretty badly corroded, which took so long. I will say, if a coin has a burned surface, like it's been in a fire is likely going to be a lost cause. Over worn coins may never yield a date no matter how long you try this.

 

I took a look at what I had in my phone. This was a pickled nickel event.

 

Note: the 50/50 mix will take minutes to reveal a date or mint mark. Depends on the level of wear.

Using this method you will need be vigilant. Walk away too long and you might miss the date and over etch the coin. I use a soft toothbrush to remove gunk. This allows for a more even appearance. I may take the coin out of the solution to brush off gunk and to slowly approach the optimal reveal. Put in and take out often as you get familiar with the process.

I started doing this to reveal the dates on dateless Buffalo. I started a Pickled Nickel set of Buffalo as a result. I also used the process on one almost dateless V Nickel I found CRHing.

 

Maybe I'm too late to help, but I just used a medicine dropper of 3% peroxide and a dropper of vinegar mixed in an old plastic yogurt cup, I then carefully put drops of the mixture on the face of the coin until it was covered. I let it sit till I saw bubbles and then rinsed it. Repeat if needed/wanted.

 

Actually, conc. nitric works the best but unavailable to most people. I restored a lot of Buffalo's with it in minutes. It leaves an obvious spot most of the time - the question is it better to have a slug worth face or a damaged one with a readable date? My hope was to find a lower mintage coin but that never happened for me.

 

This surprises me. As you see in my pickled nickel collection above, I’ve found many semikey Buffalo from my CRH events. I’ve duplicates of many of them too. The 1915 D was a nickel my father picked up off the ground in a diner parking lot. He didn’t even know it was a buffalo at first (he’s 89). He handed that off to me wondering if it was older than him. Pickled for the date. He was surprised to find out it was almost 20 years older. Point is this:

I think that many collectors here would be quite surprised to learn what is passing through their fingers if they were to pickle their dateless nickels.

My experience has shown that even here on the East Coast, many old nickels with mint marks are out there. I would be curious to know what heavy CRH enthusiasts have accumulated. I’d bet they might do better than I have.

@Amberlarry22 Have you pickled your dateless nickels?

 

I put the V Nickel and 12 Buffaloes in vinegar on the 25th (Saturday).

4 nickels have dates now, 3 days later (today).

 

Share there’s no D on that 1916 coin.

 

When I was a teenager and was collecting coins, Indian Head or Buffalo nickels were still circulating (late 1950s/early 60s), i would get a lot of dateless nickels and used vinegar to bring out the date. Sure, they looked cleaned, but for 5 cents and a bit of momma's vinegar, i could fill a hole in my Whitman nickel folder. I love what Inspector43 has done. I never came this close. thanks for sharing.

 

The last nickel finish on day 5 (sorry for the late update). Most of them are 1916, 1917, 1918 or 1920.

Only one of the nickels I soaked had a mintmark. I'm pretty happy with the results, it turns out it's a 1915-D.







And here's the V Nickel! It's 1895, a better date but I couldn't help thinking, if only that 9 was an 8! The date is a lot clearer than my photos suggest.