Buffalo Nickel #6, Before and After Date Restorer Pics

DrDetector · Oct 1, 2007

Picked up another box of nickels and went through it with a friend this morning. Also got 13 rolls of halves and $5 loose in halves. The 13 rolls yielded 6 40% silver halves (not all too shabby). But the box of nickels yielded a 'dateless' buffalo nickel, my 6th for the year. Attached are pics of before and after I used nic-a-date to restore the date on it. It is a 1916, which I had never found before, making this the 19th different Buffalo nickel I have found in circulation in my life. Man, those really were nice looking coins, it's a shame the date wore off so relatively easily.

Before (with and without flash):

GPURS · Oct 1, 2007

Geez Doc, that stuff works pretty good. How does nic a date work? Does any coin store carry it? I have some no dates that I thought were lost causes, but that stuff might let them tell me their birthday.. Gpurs..

VERMONTPACKRAT · Oct 1, 2007

Thanks for the post. I had been wondering how well nic a date worked.
Guess I will have to get some now !!

VPR

Smithrow1 · Oct 1, 2007

Yes it is to bad the dates wore off. It is also a problem with the Standing Liberty Quarters.

DrDetector · Oct 2, 2007

They sell Nic-a-date date restorer for nickels at most coin shops, or you can find it on Ebay. That's where I got my bottle. It sells for like $8. The bottle is quite small but you literally use one drip per coin. I have used it on about 30 buffalo nickels to restore the date and it worked every time. Also my bottle still looks full, as the quantity in there is going to last a lifetime, I feel. It's truly amazing, you watch the date appear before you very eyes! Haha, that sounded corny...yet it's so true!

I believe it works by means of a chemical reaction between the solution (nic-a-date) and the denser metal around the date (or mint mark, or any of the other features). It eats away at the denser metal around the date, therefore "raising" the date. When the coin is made, the date is one of the highest points on the coin and thus is the least dense (or 'crushed') area of the coin. Anyone else have a better explanation?

Immy · Oct 2, 2007

Nic-a-Date is the bomb!! I bought mine in 1999 and received this 1¼ oz. bottle and thought "This won't last me a month!" Eight years and some 80 coins later and the bottle is still 95% full. This stuff might outlast me! I bought a dateless roll of buffalos on eBay just to have some fun with it. BTW, do not try Nic-a-Date on silver coins. It only works on copper-nickel.

GPURS · Oct 2, 2007

Thanks for the replies Doc and Immy. Fantastic stuff it is. I will head to the coin store today to pick some up, (and also see if he has a roll or bag of dateless buffalos)..Thanks again for the info, and HH!! Gpurs....

coincollector101 · Oct 2, 2007

Thats neat DrDetector,
Did you find any key dates or simi?

Happy hunting ,
CC

Sheldius · Oct 2, 2007

What would it do to the resale value of a key date? I know it was "worthless" before the date is restored.

Nice finds. I can't get enough boxes of nickels to make a serious go at it. :'(

HH.

coinlover · Oct 2, 2007

everybody says you can resale restored date buffalo nickels for over a quarter each, but i think if i saw a key date or semi key i needed, i would buy it. good suggestion about not using that one silver. that nic a date turns silver black. if you can't get to any nic a date, try soaking them in white vingar. it takes a couple weeks, but it still works.

DrDetector · Oct 2, 2007

Um, I have turned up a 1915D, which is a sort-of-semi-key I think. As far as resale, I think they go for about 1/2 of what they would sell for in AG-Good if the date was still naturally intact. At least that is my experience in watching how much they sell for on Ebay.

Immy · Oct 2, 2007

That's right. In the past it wasn't uncommon for a 14-D or a 21-S to go for $5-$10 on eBay, and that's before buffalo values went up. There's definitely a market for budget collectors looking to fill holes, just be sure that your ad clearly mentions that they're restored dates or "acid dates."

When I find a buffalo I kinda hope it's dateless! I've already found two 21-S's and one 14-D.

DrDetector · Oct 2, 2007

Yeah! The good thing about dateless Buffaloes is that they are almost ALWAYS older dates. I have yet to find a dateless that was newer than 1919 I think.

Emperor Findus Cladius · Oct 5, 2007

How well does it work on the reverse to restore the mintmark? I got a dateless one a couple of months back, but I know it is a 1913 because it has the old style of mound the buffalo is standing on. I just do not know the mintmark.