nic-a-dated some old Buffs

my grandpa had 6 buffalo nickels - non of which were readable in his little collection he gave me.
So I bought some Nicadate, and used it.

the buffalo's are:

1915-?
1915-?
1916-D
1918-?
1923-?
1925-?

I still havent gotten the mint mark on the others except the 1916...

So yeah, its pretty cool! :kewl:

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

whats nicadate?

 

its acid in a bottle you put on dateless buffalo nickels to make the date visable again. you put it on the spot where the date was, and the acid eats the softer metals on the coin where the date was stamped.

 

Yup.
So I found out the 1916-D is the only one with a mint mark.

So no 1918/7-D's for me... lol

 

is that bad for a coin?

 

well, it depends on the way you think about it, personally i would rather have a nic a dated coin than a blank buff

 

that's true, it acid does damage a coin no matter what.

 

yup, but like Monkey said. I'd rather have a nic-a-dated buff than a blank one.
Especially since these that I did are ones that my Grandpa kept since the 50's - so I was wondering what they were.
and, not surprisingly, they are older ones.

 

If the coin in question is nothing but a cheap dateless nickle what is there to lose? Of course if it's a good coin, nice coin, rare coin then you would be able to see the date anyway and don't need Nik-a-Date.
I did 6 worthless Buffalos taken out of my junk box. Now at least my curiosity is satisfied as to what they are. Would I do it again? Darn right I would.
Also tried it on a cheap old Canadian quarter. For a few moments the date 1929 appeared, then went away while the silver turned pitch black.

 

On a more theoretical level, I would think that if the metal is harder or more dense where the date was stamped on it, there must be some way using some sort of equipment to determine what the date was even if it is no longer visible. It might not be worth the cost to find out, but wouldn't this be possible? And this wouldn't damage the coin the way acid does.

 

Yup. I think one of today's technical machines could possibly do it.

 

he didnt collect them.
He found cool/old coins from pocket change and kept them.
he had some old washington quarters, a standing liberty, some other things.
nothing major, he just took the stuff he knew was old/silver out in change when he found it.

 

Here is a question:

When you nic-a-date a nickel, is the "newly" visible date permanent? Or is it just a temporary viewing?

 

the newely restored date is visible forever unless it goes through circulation for a long time and wears off again. the acid eats the metal away, the theres no metal coming back on the date.

 

How long does it ake to work?

Phoenix

 

Talked to a local dealer and he recommended that I NOT use nic-a-date on buffs unless it is just for fun

 

Did 4 Buffalos yesterday that were part of a dated lot I bought.
Dates raised are: 1920, 1919D, 1913 Type 2 and 1913D Type 1.
Phoenix: It only takes a few seconds to a couple of minutes. Sometimes the date is best seen just as you are doing it. Each coin is different. Out of the four I did the 1920 came out the best. Needless to say I was surprised to get a 1913D Type 1 out of the deal; didn't even look at the reverse until I saw the 1913
appear.