Ooops overcleaned a coin

I've been looking for something to collect, which isn't easy in the USA coin category as post 1955 dates aren't worth the effort. I bought about 60 "dateless" buffalo nickels from a reputable dealer in my coin club for a decent price. Then, I bought a bottle of nickel date restorer.

I am now the proud owner of these "dateless" buffalo nickels:
1913 type 1
1913 d type 1
1913 s type 1
1913 type 2
1913 d type 2
1915 d
1916 d
1916 s
1917 d
1918 d
1918 s
1919 d
1919 s
1921
1924 d
1925 d
1925 s
1926 d
That's a pretty good fill in for the partial dates I also bought!
I intend to start buying more "dateless" buffalo nickels to try and make full sets 1913 - 1926. The later dates are mostly cheap to buy and easy to find for a buck or so each.
Collecting the stuff that is cheap is what collecting is all about.
The OP's coin looks good in the scan and would make a nice addition to an all "dateless" buffalo nickel set.

 

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Meow just wishes that Meow did not leave it in cleaner overnight. Maybe just a few hours may have revealed the date, but not turn the nickel into such an obvious cleaned coin. Could you show us a few pics of what your nickels look like after using nickel date revealer?

 

It's not worthless .. just sell it on Etsy ....
lol

 

Supposedly ferric chloride which is what is used to etch circuit boards, so you can purchase nicadate or go the generic route. Generic is cheaper usually. But it should not be on the full coin as it will ruin it for sure. Another option is (according to someone posting on treasurenet.com in 2012) is "Anyway, since I don't have any nic-a-date I figured I'd mix up a small batch of my homemade etchant to see if it could be used to raise dates. The results were pretty good. I added 1 part muriatic acid to 2 parts hydrogen peroxide (always add the acid TO the peroxide and not the other way around). I then used a q-tip to rub it on a couple of very well warn dateless buffalo nickels. The results are shown below. It only took a matter of seconds before I could see the dates starting to appear.

The coin on the left was doused in the stuff. So it looks etched all over. For the coin on the right I just dabbed the solution onto the date area. You can see that just like nic-a-date the acid left a small area around the date that is discolored."


My point is not to give you definitive info, but be aware that the stuff that raises dates in nickles is potent stuff and possibly should be used very sparingly and with caution. Perhaps others will chime in

 

@MeowtheKitty but before rushing to do this, read this thread and pay attention to the good people on this board who know their stuff... I will quote one from this thread that probably need to have his words listened to...


https://www.cointalk.com/threads/nic-a-date-recipe-help.234253/

 

Personally, I am not sure nic-a-date is worth using for devaluing the coin....

 

There are people that are trying to build a complete set of restored (now damaged) dateless Buffalo Nickels. Not a bad idea really. Enjoy.

 

Lesson learned Meow?

 

Buffalo nickels are expensive in nice low grade condition for all but the highest mintage dates. And, they've been picked through... you won't find any in a dealer's old stock.

"Dateless" buffalo nickels are bought by dealers for face value or slightly above. The Philly ones are easily found for sale by dealers at less than 50 cents each. The mintmarked ones are harder to find. The total cost to me to put nickel date restorer on that 1913 d type 2 coin I found was less than 50 cents (one drop on front, one drop on back, plus cost of coin). There is no risk in restoring dates on buffalo nickels which cost you less than 50 cents each. I'd bet that 1913 d would turn up in a dealer's inventory at $5.00 or more, as would the 1913 d type 1 and 1913 s type 1 that I found too. Chances are I won't lose any money on the coins that I bought - the trick was to stay away from the Philly dates, as you can buy partial dates for about a $1 each and those are considered "collectible" unlike the "dateless" buffalo nickels.

 

Seems smart to be sure to wear chemical resistant gloves, a respirator(not a paper mask!) And a face shield to protect from splashes. Maybe Rinse thoroughly with distilled water afterwards.

 

Meow should just enjoy the fact that Meow was lucky enough to find a buffalo nickel in the first place. It is the second one Meow found so far. Meow will revisit this post again if the need to clean a coin arises again. Thanks all for you input, and support. Still working on being the best CRH Cat in the world.

 

Oh... and here are the dates on the "dateless" buffalos that I have found roll searching:
1914
1915
1915 d
1918
1918 s
1919 x 2
1920 s
1921
1923 x 2
1926
1928

 

Yeah, I would have spent it in the hopes that some little kid got it and said Mommy or Daddy, look what I got! Don't get me wrong, there's many collectors who do things unheard of to find the date and that's cool. It's just something I've never gotten into. Better luck, next time! We live and learn on this forum, at least I do!