With all the nic-a-date threads going around recently, I decided to try to restore some dates on some Buffs with Vinegar. It took only a few days to make some of the dates partially visible, but I ended up leaving them to soak for about two weeks....I did a total of four coins: Coin 1 Before: After: Coin 2 Before: After:
Thanks for sharing your results. I have been waiting to hear back from your experiment. The photos are great!
Thanks! I know it is acid, but honestly, if I found a 1916/1916 or another rare variety or date such as that one, I believe there would still be a market for it....Even if it sold for 10% of a normal coin, it would still be better than a dateless buff....
I've had 2 soaking in apple cidar vinegar for weeks. The dates started to show up after a few days, but then the progress stopped. I changed them over to the clear vinegar today. We'll see.
If the coin is too worn the acid will not bring the date back. When it i struck there is a slight difference in the metal density between the date area and the surrounding area, but that difference only goes a very short way into the coin. If the date is gone and it is worn down past that difference level it will eat away at the metal evenly an no date will appear. In the case of the date just starting to appear and then no further change, that is because most of the date was worn past that level of no return. You got back what you could but from that point on the coin was reacting equally in both the date and non date areas so there was no further change.
i was thinking 1919 too. it has an S mintmark also. i have it soaking again, hopefully the coin is not too worn to resotre the date more.
