Hello all! I have 2 buffalo nickels that don't have dates on them. I have been reading where this is not an uncommon occurrence. The article stated that the date on the nickels was initially somewhere on it that allowed it to wear down quickly so, the design was altered to have the date set deeper in the coin so it wouldn't wear like that. The article went on to say these coins, because the date can't be determined, are only worth about .15 cents. Does anyone else have another opinion?
I'm afraid my internet connection is so bad I can't see your photos. I can tell you, however, that the date is below center-left on Indian Head side, at the Indian's shoulders. The weakness of the metal and the overall design allowed for the date to wear down much quicker than other parts of the coin. Because of this, there are many dateless Buffalo Nickels out there. If you have a Loupe/Magnifying glass, you can try to make out the numbers. you really only need the right two as they all began with 19XX. Regarding worth, I'd say 15 cents seems reasonable, but for anything to have a value, there must be a buyer willing to pay the value requested. You should check the back for mint marks below the words FIVE CENTS on the reverse. If there is a mint mark, there's a chance that the nickel is a valuable key date. Some people use different chemical solutions (nic-a-date being the most commonly referred to) in order to remove some of the metal around the date and make it clear. This damages the coin, but you'll never know the date unless you do something like that. I have quite a few dateless Buffalo Nickels with no mint marks, I just leave them as they are and I'll probably give them to kids interested in collecting when I go to a coin show.
An opinion on what exactly, the value of a dateless Buff ? Personally, I wouldn't give you 5 cents for one. Or, an opinion on why they are dateless ? What you read in the article is correct.
As far as I know, the date on buffalo nickels was never 'sunken' to prevent wear, it was the denomination (five cents) on the reverse that was changed. Originally it was on a mound, but midway through the first year of issue (1913) they replaced the mound with a recess and put the denomination there. The date area was never changed and even later date buffalos (all the way to 1938) that circulated well would eventually lose their dates. The date area on Standing Liberty Quarters was modified in 1925 to protect the date, that might be what you are thinking of.
