Acid dating a beefalo

I have no idea what you mean "soak the coin in PH down". If you mean use lye or something similar, it will not work.

 

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PH down is used to lower the ph of water for aquariums and hydroponic systems. And it is acidic like vinegar.

 

No, pH down will not work. You need acid or ferric chloride. Just like raising a serial number on a gun.

 

Ok thanks,this is interesting and have never heard of this before.

 

I started collecting in the early 50's. I do not remember exactly when, but I heard of nic-a-date within a couple years later. I vaguely remember having a bottle back then, but I did not use it much.

 

This isn't dissin Nic-a-date, but I hate a hornless buff w/a black blob on the obv. Vinegar affects the entire coin evenly.
Again, here is the process used by #1.
http://buffaloreincarnations.com/about/restoration.php

 

pH down is acid. It should work.

 

Yes, you are correct, but I sincerely doubt it will work. It is made to be mild so it does not harm the live present. That is the opposite of what you want. If you really want to prove it, get a nickel (maybe 10¢) and try it. But after 50+ years of trying, the experts have found vinegar and nic-a-date work.

 

You've made an excellent point, but these are also certified coins and my raw 13-S tyII estimate was just that... an estimate that, after subtracting submission fees and other expenses, was quite reasonable. Again, I do not see "value" in treated coins, but this in no way means that others feel the same. It is nothing more than a personal opinion.

I stand corrected (to a point) on the 18/7-D, but again, you are giving a certified example in response to a post about raw. In this case, I believe the plastic adds substantially to the price.

Depends on how you look at it. If such things were of any interest to me, I would much rather buy bulk dateless than a bunch of common already-treated coins. At least with the dateless, there would be a chance of possibly finding something "good".

Also, consider a variety such as the 16-P DDO, which can be identified even in a dateless state. Acid treating such a coin would only hurt its value.

 

Sorry, you may be right. I was thinking of pH reducer for pools, which I think is generally pretty strong hydrochloric acid, and would work very well. I see that some of the stuff for aquarium or hydroponic use is based on phosphoric acid, which might work, or even citric acid, which would probably be even weaker than vinegar.

Vinegar's a fairly weak acid, in the scheme of things. It doesn't take much to out-corrode vinegar.

 

One should research what is actually happening to allow the date to show under these solutions. It isn't just the pH. An acid would reduce a un-struck planchett equally all over. The striking process alters the crystal structure of the copper nickel so the area of the date ( and a few other areas most don't notice unless they do a full coin treatment), is different on the molecular level than the surrounding fields. An acidic ferric chloride solution ( used to be used to etch copper off of pc boards for those of us who built home made units is much better than vinegar or other mineral acids. If you intend to do it, I think the commercial product is worth the price, but vinegar is cheap I recognize. And sorry, I still feel they are damaged coins. IMO.

 

So are you guys saying all I would have to do is drop a dateless buff in vinegar and let it sit and that's it??

 

is it an S?
i've got a 19 17 S, i put in vinigar for two days, no date came back. i took it out and over the course of a year the date came back!!! however, you canoly read it in bright lite. found it in pocket change.

 

yeap! then wait for weeks on end!
or drop it in, then take it out after four days and wait another two weeks (cuts the time in half) then look at it in VERY bright light and there you have it!

 

Phosphoric acid (without the buffers likely present) will work. I use HCl for my pool. That will work in a heart beat, but it will work on many other things especially skin and lungs. Vinegar is much safer, relatively non-hazardous, relatively non-poisonous, and produces an easily controllable reaction.

 

+1

 

Is there any method that would work on silver, such as dateless SLQs? I'm guessing no.

 

No, it seems that only Cu-Ni compounds react this way.. Many owners of possible 16D dimes wish it was so

 

Hi ! 16d,

The last Buff, 1926, looks like a S to me.

In all these restored Buffalo's, were the original dates at all visible ?

Nice job. What did you use as a acid restore chemical ?

Dave