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

I am marinading a few right now:eat:

 

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The guy at a local shop said a customer tried this and revealed a 1916/16 ddo!

 

I'm going to my coin shop to pick up some dateless buffs this morning, they got them for 20 cents a piece. This time I'll do before pics as well, also some of the buffs I had never revealed a date after two weeks of sitting in red wine vinegar .

 

I put in four and got the dates out on two, a 17P & 18P.

 

Okay well I didn't take before pictures like I said i would , this is the best date I've pulled out of the 'dateless' bunch. That's right, a 1913 D Type 2. Not bad for paying 25 cents lol. Enjoy the pics.

 

I meant 'Variety 2' not 'type 2' lol, I had to correct myself.

 

i've heard both terms used.

 

I got some vinegar, but no Buffalo nickels. Guess I'll make a salad instead.

 

Working one now as a test.

Before pic now and after when it's done percolating.

 

One question: Do we change the vinegar when it turns blue?

 

yes

 

Thanks Swish

 

Finally getting around to uploading of "vinegar" buffalo. Sorry it took so long but as you can see it had crud on it plus I've been busy. 1916 buffalo but it shows the "grains" of the metal.

 

Most of my buffalos have full dates, but I have one with 19 showing. Took it out after about an hour, its a 1915-D

 

awesome

 

Nice Pics DionHurst!

 

I have a few dateless buffs that I'll try this with. If I find anything valuable, will it slab after this treatment?

 

I have found that the best kind of vinegar for buffs is apple cider vinegar. I wait until there is just a small bit of blue sludge covering the coins then they get rinsed in hot, hot water. The dates, mm, horn, details should all be present at this point, which takes between 4-7 days. If not, clean out my container start over, if nothing after the second time, then the nickel is too far gone to ressurect. Never let the liquid completely evaporate, the remaining acid, will permanently stain, discolor, the nickels various shades of blue, green, or copper color. Subsequent treatment in vinegar won't remove the staining.

 

I used white vinegar and several treatments on this one. I will see if I got another and try the cider vinegar.

This one was gunked up bad

 

I don't have firm data to support this, but I'm betting that the staining you saw was from solids in the apple cider vinegar. White vinegar should be free of these.

The blue-green color comes from nickel acetate, which is highly soluble in water. If you're seeing persistent blue-green staining, it's probably contaminated nickel acetate that's trapped under a layer of organics or other insoluble stuff.

I'm doing a long soak in white (now blue) vinegar right now, but I don't plan on letting it evaporate -- I've got it in a covered container. I'm also thinking of trying diluted hydrochloric ("muriatic") acid, which might be a bit faster.