I've been collecting for a while now, but I've done all my purchases from antique stores and eBay. I saw an ad for a local show in the paper this morning and I went. It was a lot of fun! I even met one of my friend's fathers who had a booth there. I bought: two Barber dimes: 1912D, 1916S; a Barber quarter (my first!) 1902O; and a handful of buffs and liberty nickels. But my best find (I think) was in a bin of junk nickels. I picked up a dateless shield nickel! I know, I know... It won't be worth much being dateless, but I figured for 60 cents, I couldn't go wrong! I'm considering trying to bring out the date using vinegar or nic-a-date. Any thoughts on whether or not to clean?
I suggest clean it, if the dates readable it will be worth around a dollar or two as a novelty piece, but if no date, its worth a quarter for jewelry
A good cleaning won't hurt this coin at all. It could make it more valuable and maybe if you Nic-A-Date the date, it might be a rare one. Who knows, worst case you lose 55 cents.
So, I mixed up a homemade nic-a-date concoction (using hydrogen peroxide and toilet bowl cleaner) and I'm beginning to see a "5" show up at the end of the date! It's an 1875!!! But I'm wondering how much it would be worth - despite the fact that '75 is a semi-key date, all the designs are almost completely flat and the date is barely readable. Plus I've cleaned it. Obviously it's not worth $30, which is the minimum price in my redbook... Any thoughts?
Oh Blast. Will you guys stop trying to revive worn and worthless attempts at seeking value in dateless damaged and otherwise noncollectable coins? They're dead to the collecting community........
Oh, I know its not worth much to a really serious collector, but I'm here purely for the enjoyment. IMHO, a crappy coin is better than no coin. Besides, worn coins have character - this nickel was probably used for hundreds of transactions! Just think if it could talk!
