I have been trying nic-a-date lately. Last week, I bought 500 no-date buffalo nickels off of ebay. I spent Friday night dividing them between Plain, D, S, Type 1 and bad mint mark. I have a 2.5 times magnifying glass and a 10x jewelers eye piece. Well, last night I went through the type 1, S and D,s. About 100 total. I got a date off of all but 7. Those were just too damaged from scratches in the date area to get anything off of them. I found a total of 13 type 1 nickels. I had to nic-a-date some of the mint marks too. I found 10 plain, 2 D's and One I just can't tell. The back mound was rubbed pretty smooth. I can see a lump after the acid, but I can't tell what the lump is. I found a 1914 D, two 1915 S's, Four 1916 D's, Two 1917 S, and a 1921 S. I also found 5 1918 D's with one of them possibly being a 1918/7 D. I'm still trying to find out if there were other anomalies about this coin that can help me verify it. I found that they used a new die in 1917 in Denver that centered the D, which was when the 1918 die was actually made, but I still can't tell for sure whether I can use this as a guide. I will do some more research. To me, this is the kind of thing that I find entertaining. Now I have the 400 plains or really worn coins left. The really worn coins are the most challenging but also have the most potential for a 1913 type 2 (I took all the type 1's out since they are so obvious to find.) What I have found so far is that the vast majority of the worn coins I have are from the years 1916, 1917, 1918 and 1919. I am looking for a 1916 doubled die but I'm not sure that the nic-a-date would be able to bring that out. There were a few coins from the 1920's but none from the 30's yet. I do realize that most of these coins are worthless, but I have had a fun time doing this. I have also learned a bit about this Buffalo Nickel and which coins are the most worn. I spent $130 on the 500 Nickels, the bottle of Nic-a-date, the 15 plastic rolls, and the 200 2x2 slabs, and a new stapler made just for this. For me, that was a pretty cheap price to pay for 15-40 hours of fun. And yes, I do find that getting these dates and finding what nickels are in this bunch a whole lot of fun. When I am finally finished, I will make a spreadsheet of all the coins that I purchased and the distribution of these coins. That day will still be several weeks off since I can only work on these on the weekends. I'll let you all know what I find out when I am done.
I wouldn't say that those coins are worthless.....If you did indeed find a 1918/17 D, then that could be worth some money!
if it is an 18/17 you might be able to submit it to someone like PCI and after having it slabbed you could get 200 or more for it in ebay, thats a net gain for you.
worn buffs Howdy, I applaud you on doing something, that while the purests may frown, has given you joy and helped you learn. Your finds are not worthless, largely due to Ebay. From what I've seen in the past, acid date buffs sell for about one third or so of what might otherwise be the case. This means that if you do uncover one of the rarer issues, it would still be worth some money. have fun, rono
