Would you date an Indian?

[DustDevilMarc]

Would you date the Buffalo?

I found this worn Buffalo coin recently in a box of nickels.



As you can see, the year inscription is missing from the Native American's shoulder.

This is only my second Buffalo, so I am a bit attached to it. If this were your second Buffalo, would you use a weak acid on it to try to reveal the year of minting? Doing so will most likely scar the nickel with a nasty looking etched area. I am not sure that I want to degrade the coin more than it already is. Would you?

 

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[mercury1]

I wouldn't. Keep hunting and you will get some with dates.

 

[RustyGold]

1913-36 Type 2 Buffalo Nickel because it's standing on a mound with a line representing the bottom of the mound. 1913 Type 1 the buffalo is standing on a mound that blends at the bottom!
1937-D Buffalo has only 3 legs!
Best of luck¡
1913 Type 1

1913 Type 2

1937 3-legs

 

[jeff of pa]

yea I'd definitely date these Indians



Buffalo's don't float my boat though.

& NIC-A-DATE is correct a drop on the date of most Buffalo's will bring it out.
Doesn't work for me on Dug-uns though

 

[Twitch]

Marc - I have nic-a-date and it works very well. It's very cool to see the date appear on a dateless buffalo. That being said I don't ever use it on my own CRH finds. Not really sure why other than for my personal finds it doesn't bother me that they're dateless. So reason I don't get arrowheads 'restored' when I find heartbreakers. Some times I'll grab 20-30 dateless buff's from the ole LCS and nic-a-date them. Have find several keys and semi-keys that way.

 

[BuffaloBoy]

I would treat it to make the date appear, a dateless buffalo isn't even worth 2x face value. I have plenty of dateless buffs that I have been considering using nic-a-date on also, do what you feel is the right thing to do

 

[BuffaloBoy]

your best bet is to see if the dealer will sell you the mint marked buffalo nickels and you'll make out very well with keys that way.

Marc - I have nic-a-date and it works very well. It's very cool to see the date appear on a dateless buffalo. That being said I don't ever use it on my own CRH finds. Not really sure why other than for my personal finds it doesn't bother me that they're dateless. So reason I don't get arrowheads 'restored' when I find heartbreakers. Some times I'll grab 20-30 dateless buff's from the ole LCS and nic-a-date them. Have find several keys and semi-keys that way.

 

[jeff of pa]

I would treat it to make the date appear, a dateless buffalo isn't even worth 2x face value. I have plenty of dateless buffs that I have been considering using nic-a-date on also, do what you feel is the right thing to do

yep an acid treated (damaged) 1918- D 8 over 7 is worth close to $1000.00 to the right collector
that same Buffalo without a date showing at all may be worth a dime to come kid
for show and tell

 

[ArkieBassMan]

To me, acid-dated looks no worse than worn slick. There is no wrong answer here. Its your coin. Whichever you prefer is the correct answer.

With that said, you can only increase the value by using nic-a-date. It will not (cannot) lower the value, but should a rare date appear, your coin jumps in value. For example, I have seen well-done acid dated 1913-S T2's sell for over $20 on ebay. That's quite a jump.

 

[jeff of pa]

To me, acid-dated looks no worse than worn slick. There is no wrong answer here. Its your coin. Whichever you prefer is the correct answer.

With that said, you can only increase the value by using nic-a-date. It will not (cannot) lower the value, but should a rare date appear, your coin jumps in value. For example, I have seen well-done acid dated 1913-S T2's sell for over $20 on ebay. That's quite a jump.

I've seen them get a green Tinge to the date area after the acid but yea, no Biggie

 

[Twitch]

There's no value in a dateless Buff so there's no downside at all to nic-a-dating them. I've found them in circulation that had already been nic-a-dated.

Buff - like you said, if I'm going to grab some out of the dateless bucket I always grab ones that are mint marked.

 

[port ewen ace]

NICADATE revealed the following: 13 T1, 13 T2, 14 (4), 14S, 15, 15D (2), 15S, 16 (4), 16D (3), 17 (5), 18 (3), 18S, 19 (4), 20 (3), 21, 23, 25 (2), and 26D. be sure to finger wash before and after with mild soap and water. tiny drop in date area only, use a toothpick to break surface tension for uniform action on all digits. 1 to 2 minutes, then wick liquid with a tissue and wash. repeat if needed. treated area will be slightly grainy with light color change. will try listing some treated ones on ebay as a lot with full disclosure and see if there is any interest.

 

[iontyre]

Does anyone know if nic-a-date would work on a standing liberty quarter?

 

[SilverFace]

Does anyone know if nic-a-date would work on a standing liberty quarter?

I think it just works with nickels because of the composition of the coins, but I sure wish there was something like nic a date to use for SLQ's also, I've got plenty of those I'd like to know the dates of too lol.

 

[Joe777Cool]

Does anyone know if nic-a-date would work on a standing liberty quarter?

no.

 

[Joe777Cool]

By the looks of that coin, you arent going to get a date. When its that slick, in my experience, its gone forever.

 

[DustDevilMarc]

I used Nic - A - Date on the nickel ...



It turned out to be a 1919.



Kind of cool. Thanks to port ewen ny.

 

[Holmes08]

I use nic-a-date on my dateless buffalos.....I bought the bottle/tube of it.....if you let the acid sit on it you get that worn area like yours has....BUT my advice for the future is you'll never use that entire bottle, so drop a droplet on it count to 5 wipe it off with a cloth/rag.....and repeat the process it wont look as BEAT UP. than I see if my collection needs that coin

 

[mercury1]

I guess I see where people are coming from on this acid dating. I keep all the buffs I find but really don't care that much about them. Certainly can't hurt and if it reveals a rare coin worth $$$, then yes, seems to be worthwhile doing it.
HH

 

[Joe777Cool]

By the looks of that coin, you arent going to get a date. When its that slick, in my experience, its gone forever.

just kidding