i did a "no-no" but...

My 9yo son got a Buffalo folder at a coin show, and I'd love to get a bag of dateless coins and process them with him -- if he's anything like me, the hunt is a lot more fun than the having, anyhow. I see dateless buffaloes on eBay, but they seem to go a little steeper than I was expecting -- am I unreasonable to expect that they should be less than $20 a roll (shipped domestically)?

 

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I wonder if anyone has ever assembled a complete set of dateless buffs.

 

I have a bunch of null date buffalo nickels. Since they're pretty much worthless (e.g. worth a nickel), it sounds like a fun experiment. Great post.

 

Interesting. A whole 7 days even sounds long. I guess I don't associate any kind of chemical with a coin for anything longer than a few seconds to a few days.

I bet that would save a few bucks!

 

Thanks coinhead, I always wondered how it worked. It sounds like the rest of the coin is softer than the date due to the minting process and therefore it is dissolved by the acid more rapidly.

Neat. I'm 62 and it still is a kick when I learn something completely new.

thanks,

rono

 

I think the date might actually be a bit softer ? Because if a heated, flat piece of metal is pressed, it would seem the low points would get the most compaction and squeeze the metal out and up into the recessed portions od the die. So I think the raised areas are softer than the low areas ? Maybe that's why the details can be retrieved with acid ? The softer metal gets eaten away more rapidly than the hard low surfaces and outlines those details ? Just guessing ? But am quite intrigued by the process.

But I am gonna try it tomorrow and time it, by looking each day. I think I may even get a scan of the original to see how it is working ?

gary

 

Its definately the only way I could afford one. I dont really collect buffalos but its still a nice coin. I bought about 80 dateless for cheap (less than 20 cents a piece) and pulled it out of there. The other ones I have done took anywhere from 1-2 weeks. I plan on giving them to kids around the holidays this year. Almost time to bring out the Santa hat.

 

I read this and it sounded fun,I found three dateless buffalos roll hunting last week, I got them in vinegar now .... waiting to see the dates ,i'll let you know if any rare ones appear lol.

 

Does anyone have before and after pics of these?

 

I have a dateless buff I will experiment with. Wow 2 weeks?

 

I just through in 5 I have with no dates.

 

Yes I do know of someone who tried to build a complete set using just "acid date" coins. Believe it or not the hardest ones to get are the ones from the late 30's. For the most part they didn't stay in circulation long enough to wear the date off completely. Lots of partial dates but few with the date gone.

The reason the amout of time seems to vary so much is due to how long the coin continued circulating once the date was gone. The density changes from the strike go just so deep into the coin and the longer it circulated the more of that surface was worn away. A coin where the date had just gone missing would restore very quickly, while one that saw extensive circulation after the date was no longer visible will take longer to restore and may not be restorable at all.

 

I got some coins finished first a 1914 S, this is after two weeks in red wine vinegar.

 

and the 1918 S .

 

nice ones fish!

 

Those ones came out nice, not as grainy as the others.

 

:loud: Now, introducing......

The tastiest buffalo collection! :eat:

 

I wonder if White Cider vinegar or Olive oil would work also ?

 

Al Dente

 

Cool i like it