Dateless Walking Halves.... A fruitless endeavor?

I have tried researching die markers for 1921 halves and have not seen anything definite. I have a dateless Walker that I am nearly positive has "1" as the last digit from the Philidelphia mint. Is there any way to know from die markers? I also have two from the San Fransisco mint. I have never heard of a way to "nic-a-date" silver, although I stumbled on an old thread here on CT about trying to date dateless SLQ. The top coin is the main one in question. I only have silver weight invested, so no great investment. Thanks!

 

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I'm not aware of any markers that would let you distinguish a dateless 1921 half, but I'm really really far from an expert on the design.

If I remember the previous silver-date-restoration thread, one member managed to make dates appear on dateless SLQs (including at least one 1923-S), but wasn't able to get a TPG to slab the restored coins.

The consensus seems to be that restoring dates on silver is much more difficult and less reliable than restoring them on cupronickel.

Some TPGs will slab restored-date nickels as details coins. I think we may see an end to this practice in time, though, because a slight modification of the process might let you put any date onto a coin. I haven't seen reports of people doing this for profit, but that may well be because they're smart enough to keep quiet about it.

 

I see no date on any of the coins. Chances are that they are not 1921. Worth melt.

 

Vinegar and a prayer

 

You'll need a stronger acid than vinegar to etch silver, like nitric acid. Nic-a-date had something for silver years ago, I don't know whether or how well it worked.

 

Invest in a furnace, make some custom jewelry or silver art bars.
That's about the only saving grace for those.

 

It could also be a 1941 so chances are its not a 1921. Take into consideration the dates.
1921-S 548,000
1941-S 8,098,000
And consider that what you see as a 1 could also be a 7. Your odds are better of a 7-S than 21-S.

 

The other thread was talking about peracetic acid (white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide). I haven't tried it yet myself.

 

Do tell!! You mean there is something in the works that may restore dates without damage?

 

Sort of the opposite. You'd still etch (damage) the coin, but you could impose the date of your choice.

While I don't think I could pull it off, I'm guessing that a sufficiently motivated fraudster could develop the skill.

 

For those of you who are interested, I managed to get dates on these halves. I mixed vinegar and hydrogen peroxide and let them soak in that. The 1941 had a 10 hour soak, and the others had a 36 hour soak. The dates were 1941, 1929 S (not nice enough to picture), and 1918 S.

 

They look like California editions after a good rain.
Would eZest dip clean them up?

 

I am not sure what eZest is.

 

If I try the vinegar/peroxide method, it would probably be on dateless SLQs, and I'd probably just soak the whole coin to get a uniform appearance.

Thanks for the photos!

 

E-Zest is nice when used correctly but if it stays on too long or is not rinsed properly it will damage the coin. It can strip off the mint luster in no time.

 

Mainly Sulfuric acid and Thiourea.

SDS :
https://aervoe.com/_files/msds/EzEst Coin Cleaner 1985 - US Bulk.pdf

 

I'm not worried about mint luster on these coins!

 

LOL........

 

That’s good but over dipping any coin, in any condition, is not good.