Anyone here know if a product called "Nic-A-Date" actually restores dates on Buffalo nickels? Just thought I'd ask before I buy some. Thanks in advance, Andrew
Yes, it does. But the coins it is used on are forever marked as having had Nic-A-Date used on them. The stuff is an acid and what it does is eat away the softer metal around the date thus allowing the date to once again be visible. It will work on any coin. But what you will have afterwards is a coin with pits and pockmarks where the acid eats away the metal. It is not recommended that the stuff be used.
I too have buff's with dates not visible. If the coin is that worn anyway, what's the harm in using some acid on it to figure out the date? Although, if that acid costs more than a dollar or two that would kind of be a waste of money.
The harm is that there some dates where you can tell what the date actually was even without being able to see it because of the die characteristics on the rest of the coin. So sometimes you can really screw up an otherwise collectible coin by using Nic-A-Date. But as I have said before, the coins are yours, do with them as you will. All I can do is try to present some of the knowledge I have gained in the past 46 years of collecting and make others aware of the mistakes that have been made by other collectors in the past.
For one thing the coin will be worth less than it was as a dateless, no matter what date shows up, even if its a 1918D 8/7.
I must disagree here, a dateless buffalo is worth 5 cents a dateless buffalo that has had the date restored is also worth 5 cents unless it was a rarity like an 1918/7 or 16/16 then it might be worth a dime. Otherwise datelss buffalos are perfect for jewelry use.
