I need some opinions if you don't mind too bad...

[DANGLANGLEY]

I have found 3 buffalo nickels this year already and all of them have one thing in common.....NO DANG DATE!!!....But that is not my real question. I found this nickel face up in an 1879 church yard at about 5 inches deep and it was lying under the shade of a pine tree that is very old. Notice that the face of the coin is pretty rough and the back isn't too bad and everything is readable. could the sap in the pine needles from the pine tree have eaten the date off of this coin? Thanks for all of your input.

[Charlene]

My guess would be that ALL of natures elements contributed to the corrosion you see. The coin was face up which took the blunt of everything seeping into the ground, whereas the back was spared some what.

All buffalo nicks seemed to have the date wear off more than any other part of the coin. Its not unusual.

Nice find under the old tree, HH

[GPAZ]

Most likely not the sap as much as the acid that is put off from decaying leaves.

[Ant]

I don't see a rim on the heads side so that means the date was worn off in someones pocket or till. Not the pine sap or needles. The date on buffalo nickles are higher than everything else. that's why they ware off so fast and first. I have found 4 buffalo nickles. Two with dates (1937), one that I have yet to clean and one without a date. The ones I have cleaned are pitted just like yours. I'll post a picture of them this evening.

[cryptodave]

I have found 3 buffalo nickels this year already and all of them have one thing in common.....NO DANG DATE!!!....But that is not my real question. I found this nickel face up in an 1879 church yard at about 5 inches deep and it was lying under the shade of a pine tree that is very old. Notice that the face of the coin is pretty rough and the back isn't too bad and everything is readable. could the sap in the pine needles from the pine tree have eaten the date off of this coin? Thanks for all of your input.

Try Nic-A-Date for the dates: http://cgi.ebay.com/NIC-A-DATE-RESTO...QQcmdZViewItem

Thats the cheapest deal I have found for it.

[Ant]

The chocolate colored one was green when it came out of the ground. I used ammonia to get the green verdigris off, what you see is what you get.

[DANGLANGLEY]

I knew I could count on you guys for a remedy. Dang, that looks like good stuff for the nickels. Thanks to all of you for your help.

[Ant]

The chocolate Buffalo Nickle was cleaned with ammonia. But the two shinny Buffalo Nickles where tumbled.

I use a cheap small tumbler from Harbor Freight. Here's the link on how I cleaned the shinny buf's, never tumble key coins:
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.p...c,60777.0.html

[DANGLANGLEY]

Thanks for all the opinions. I knew I could count on all of ya.