tricks for seeing a worn smooth date.

[BC1969]

Hi was wondering if anybody knows of any tricks to see a worn off date on a coin ? Was thinking maybe a microscope.
I'm sure somebody must have a way of pulling or viewing a date that's obviously gone like a fart in the wind.
The coin.
View attachment 1088586

View attachment 1088587

Mike

 

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[CoilyGirl]

Try olive oilL for a long period of time or even try soaking briefly in hot hydrogen peroxide. Mike I truly hope you are feeling better and less anxious after asking for your charter membership to be revoked.

 

[BC1969]

I'll try the olive oil trick, thank you. And yes I do feel better, especially after I watched a 7 minute video. Sorry I laid that out on y'all...wasn't thinking clearly.

Mike

 

[Backbacon]

Try olive oilL for a long period of time or even try soaking briefly in hot hydrogen peroxide. Mike I truly hope you are feeling better and less anxious after asking for your charter membership to be revoked.

Look's like it has....

 

[BC1969]

All I know is a few days ago I was an angry resentful wreck, now I'm calm and happy for the first time in years. Truly a miracle what a 7 minute video made me aware of, thanks worldtalker. Y.S.M.L.!!

Mike

 

[Muddyhandz]

My long time coin collecting friend uses a chemical called "Nick-a-date" on really worn coins when there's no other option. He's shown me several examples where a date now appears.
Unless it is a rare year, the "Nick-a date" coins have little to no value after you've treated them but then what value does a worn down coin have to begin with?
He mainly uses the chemical on buffalo nickels after he goes to the U.S. and buys a bag of 10,000 of them!

 

[CoilyGirl]

Wonder where the average Joe can buy the Nick a Date Muddyhandz? I doubt I'll ever find another largie though so I may have to be content to just barely see her details. Mikes looks much better than mine though.

 

[Muddyhandz]

Sorry, I thought it could be used on other coins but it seems it's for nickels only?

Here's a great video of it in action minus the guys fingernails......

 

[TheRingFinder]

Thanks for that video - very good information. It's what the forensic people use to lift gun serial numbers that have been grinded off by criminals. Any idea what dates are rare on the buffalo's? I have a bunch with the dates worn off.

 

[BC1969]

Well I just got done researching the nic-a-date product. What's in it is ferric chloride aka iron chloride. As I read about it, how it works is, it attacks the copper element in the nickel and basically makes a shadow of the date appear. I'm assuming it will work on a large cent.
Another method to do the same thing, just takes much longer is to use distilled vinegar. Both of these methods decrease the coins value, but hey if its dateless its probably not worth much anyway.
I did some searching for these items and guides and came up with.
Oliver's Buffalo Nickel Etching Page

^^thats a guide to vinegar etching.

Here you can purchase a liter ( 33.8 ounces ) of ferric chloride, which is cheap compared to branded versions of nic-a-date.
MG Ferric Cloride Solution - 1 Liter - MG-415-1L - Vetco.net


Here was the only nic-a-date I could find, 1 1/4 ounce bottle 8 bucks, or better a bottle plus 12 dateless buffalos to play with for 15 bucks.
Nic A Date Date Restorer for Nickels 1 25 oz Bottle NEW | eBay

Thanks Muddy for telling us about this.

Mike

 

[TheRingFinder]

Thanks for taking the time to research this stuff Mike - Good Info!

 

[worldtalker]

All I know is a few days ago I was an angry resentful wreck, now I'm calm and happy for the first time in years. Truly a miracle what a 7 minute video made me aware of, thanks worldtalker. Y.S.M.L.!!

Mike

All one has to do is be CONSCIOUSLY AWARE....which by the way the exercise leads you to.


GOD Bless Brother Mike!

 

[coinman123]

Look at the date area at a narrow angle, and have a flash light shining at it from the side. I do not think that any cleaning will help bring out the date any more than it is now, and fact you have the risk of making it worse than it already is. I think that nic-a-date is only for a nickel's composition and will not work well on copper.

 

[bofusmosby]

Back in the 60's, they also sold something called "Dime-a-Date". This worked on silver coins like the standing liberty quarters. I believe that they took it off the market because the acid was too dangerous for people to use. I remember that it stained my hands bad, and almost detroyed the bathroom sink. I scrubbed that sink for hours, so my father wouldn't give me a whipping. LOL

 

[Muddyhandz]

Thanks for that video - very good information. It's what the forensic people use to lift gun serial numbers that have been grinded off by criminals. Any idea what dates are rare on the buffalo's? I have a bunch with the dates worn off.

My buddy just told me that out of 10,000 dateless buffalo nickels, less than 5% turn out to be semi-key dates and less than 1% were key dates.
The best he ever did was a 1916 double date. The most you could get for a nic-a-date specimen is around $350 to $500, which is considerably less than the first grade but is still much better than a blank nickel.
Another good result was a 1918 over 17D that was totally blank but came out with a clear readable date.

This is just a hobby to pass time as he would pay 10 to 15 cents a nickel (out of the 10,000) and would end up selling the rejects for face value and even some banks wouldn't take them at all.
I doubt there's any profit to be had but the satisfaction of finding the date out of nothing is the pay-off.

He also told me that could only use the chemical on nickels.