"Nick a Date" for Buffalo nickels

Has anyone used "Nick a Date" (the chemical compound used to reveal obliterated dates) on Buffalo nickels? Is it worth the effort?

 

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Yes, and yes (IMHO).

Others will say it's not worth it, preferring the original, unaltered coin. I figure the nickels are worth very little anyway. At least experiment with a few.

 

Seems experiment is the correct word. Thanks.

 

What harm can come from a dateless buffalo? Yes, it hurts the coin but it does restore the date. It's like a box of Cracker Jacks, you don't know the prize until you open the box. In this case you don't know the date until you use the Nic-A-Date. Give it a try. What do you have to lose?

 

Hunker down, dude. Nature is aiming at you again.

 

Yup, thunderstorms as I write this. Blow the pic below up and look closely at the trees in the background. You can see the mud line as to how high the water was.

It rains (pours) everyday but it's still receding. Incredible. I can't mow as the yard is under water and my mower will sink 8" in the underlying mud.

 

The main ingredient is ferric chloride ( dissolves copper) . Anyone who made any printed circuit boards in the old days used it. WEAR GLOVES and work in ventilated areas and rinse coins very well before storage. Some immerse the whole coin ( say it looks better when done) others use q-tip and just work on the date ( quite visible, ugly usually). Be Careful, Jim

 

I have done it with peroxide and alcohol. Brings out a ghost of a date about half the time and turns the nickel an unnatural white. Still worth a nickel though.

 

+1 on peroxide and vinegar. I used it on a couple of dateless buffaloes and found one was a 1919. I would not do it again as I did not like the look of the "restored" coins at all. YMMV

 

Don't like the etched look but might be good for a rare date filler until you could afford to buy a better one. Common dates just for fun.

 

You'll reveal the date but render the coin useless for numismatic purposes - your choice

 

Exact Change

 

There are a couple of value with restored dates-I've seen the 1916/16 sell for around a grand and the 18/17-D for around $100. I wouldn't want them but apparently someone out there does. Even the '13-D and S can bring much more than a nickel.

 

This is an overly snarky version of my opinion. I get to lots of auctions, and I am a nickel collector. When I open a folder or page with Nic-A-Dated Buffs on them, I vomit on the coins and move on.

Okay, not really, but it's what I'm thinking of. Building a decent mid-range set just isn't that hard to do.

 

Good golly I've never used Nic-a-Date but remind me to keep my buffalo nickels away from you... ...just in case.

 

My son got the urge to put together a Buff set just a few years ago. SO we've been filling holes all with similar VF-XF examples, a coin or two here, another there, maybe a high F for the tougher dates. We're down to JUST the 13-S Type II and the varieties - 18/17, 3-legger. Otherwise, we're done. It was an easy (near) complete.

 

!Caramba, dude! Is that the reservoir you can see from I-83 south of York?

 

Hey, I'm up for adoption ... obviously you see a lot more coins than I do in a given year Kurt. I've got a start on the same ... yeah, it's going to be my "just have some fun" set.

 

We did luck out by landing about 10 better dates at one fell swoop during a York, PA auction that runs about 5 times a year. They do singles, then bulk lots, then more singles. Stuck in the middle of a bunch of dreck bulk lots, was a group of really better date Buffs, all VF-XF. We metaphorically "stole them" because everyone else went to the coffee and doughnuts table, or the rest rooms. Our 26-S was from that.

On Christmas 2016, I got him 4 of the last open ones - 14-D, 21-S, and I forget what the other two were.