A few questions about acid treated buffalo nickels

The minting changes the molecular structure of the coin. Obviously one type of molecular structure dissolves faster than the other. It is the same technique used to "raise" the serial numbers on guns.

 

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oh, ok. I don't know about the gun example. But what you said makes some sense, about the date dissolving slower. It's weird that the date dissolves slower though. Id imagine the more compact molecules dissolve slower, so maybe the date part got compacted more when struck.

 

I suspect it is more the molecules in the date were disturbed less.

 

It's called work hardening - you often see it in the context of metal work on shows like "How's it Made". But apparently the slight difference in compression is enough for the acid to differentially remove the metal. It's not a big difference, which is why if you leave it too long in the acid, poof - it's all gone.