Collecting Coins on the Cheap: The Buffalo Nickel Challenge

[captainfwiffo]

I've been finding a fair number of Buffalo Nickels while CRHing, and was thinking that I might want to get an album to put them in. Then I was wondering how much it would cost to assemble a complete set of Buffalo nickels. So I set myself a challenge: fill an album of Buffalo nickels for less than the cost of the album itself (regular circulation issues only, excluding rare varieties like overdates, doubled dies or the three-legged variety). Can it be done?

A Dansco 7112 album lists at 21.95 retail. By my count, there are 64 coins needed to complete the set. That allows a budget of about 34¢ per coin. I'll take whatever coins I can get, in any condition, with any kind of damage, so long as it's authentic and the date/mint can be determined with certainty.

One source will be random Buffaloes I find while CRHing. Also, bulk lots of dateless or partial date Buffaloes can be had for 15-20¢ per coin. These include lots of early dates, and the dates can be restored with vinegar or ferric chloride (AKA Nic-a-Date or PCB etchant). A lot of the early key dates are only scarce because so many have lost their dates through extensive circulation. Maybe I can pick up some holed or otherwise damaged coins for cheap, or pick a few out of bulk lots. I'll have to sell or trade some of the nickels I restore to fund buying more dateless. Then will a little wheeling, dealing, trading and digging be enough to fill in the holes?

I will keep track of my progress here.

Collected so far:
1919 (CRH, partial date with last two digits clear)
1930 (CRH)
1936 (CRH)
4.7% complete

Sourced coins:
5 CRH Buffalo Nickels ($0.25)
107 Dateless Buffalo Nickels lot from eBay ($18.95 incl. shipping)

Surplus:
1936x2 (CRH)

Supplies:
Dansco 7112 Album ($21.95 - not counted toward total)
946 ML White Vinegar, 5% acidity ($1.19)

Total invested: $20.39 - $0.10 = $20.29 ($1.66 under budget)

Any surplus nickels that I haven't sold or otherwise gotten rid of will count as -5¢ against the total investment. Worst case scenario if I can't trade them or sell them on eBay, I could spend them or roll them up and take them to the bank and get face value out of them.

 

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[papa1956e9]

That is a great idea. Good luck with your challenge.

 

[hombre_de_plata_flaco]

I picked up 3 from my local convenience store clerk yesterday and gave them to a buddy of mine today. I sell the common ones w/visible dates at my booth for 1 or 2 bucks each.

 

[captainfwiffo]

I picked up a lot of dateless on eBay, worked out to 17.7¢ per coin after shipping. Hopefully I can re-sell off the ones I don't need. If I get a few key dates, I might even be able to pay for most of the lot. Since then, I've seen other lots end at 23.5¢, 15.5¢ and 21.0¢ per coin, so I did OK, but not great. Gonna see if I can find some Nic-a-Date at a local coin shop or PCB etchant at a Radio Shack or something to avoid paying for shipping.

 

[captainfwiffo]

Ran by the grocery store to dump some halves pick up a few things and grabbed a bottle of vinegar. Seems people have had good luck with restoring dates with that, and it's cheaper and easier to acquire than Nic-a-Date. Giving it a try on some older well-worn Jefferson nickels to see if they can restore any details on Monticello. Wish I hadn't been throwing back dateless Jeffersons.

I'm trying vinegar by itself on a couple, and vinegar+salt on some others (1/4 cup vinegar plus 1 tsp salt).

 

[Arizona Bob]

I purchased some Nik-A-Date buffs from eBay a few years ago... to use as fillers in an album. Although I could easily read the dates, the chemical seemed to have a more corrosive effect in the indented area around the date (pooling?) Anyway, I pulled the Nik-A-Dates from my album and replaced them with non-chemically enhanced buffs. It took me years to replace them. Good luck on your project!

 

[captainfwiffo]

Yeah, the way it works is that the striking process makes the design parts of the nickel (like the date) harder than the surrounding areas as the metal is flows up into the die. Acids or other chemicals will dissolve the softer parts more quickly, so the date will be revealed as the field around it dissolves. Nic-a-date apparently leaves a pretty ugly stain on the coin, so my collection won't exactly be the prettiest, but it'll be cheap!

 

[1235CE]

Nice project, good luck........dateless Jeffersons??......not sure I've ever seen one.

HH all!

Greg

 

[ES66]

Although vinegar works well on cleaning some coins, especially pennies, it doesn't seem to work as well on nickels... I've had much better luck restoring dates on nickels by soaking them in worcestshire sauce, in a sealed container (tuperware)... You'd be amazed how well it works... Good luck..

 

[papa1956e9]

How did those Ebay coins turn out?

 

[captainfwiffo]

I've actually been posting updates to this http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=91413"]on a different forum[/url]. But I've already got most of the early key dates, including 1913-D type 2, 1913-S type 2, 1914-D and 1921-S. Unfortunately no duplicates of those yet, so nothing too great to sell off other than surplus no-dates and more common dates.

Some of the later semi-keys are going to be harder because they're less likely to be worn dateless, but I still have a lot of a few hundred dateless and partial dates to sort through.

 

[Arizona Bob]

I've actually been posting updates to this http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=91413"]on a different forum[/url].

The link you listed above doesn't work. I did manage to find the correct link for you: http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=91413

You're welcome.

 

[captainfwiffo]

Just an update - The challenge is complete. A complete set of Buffalo nickels for less than 20 bucks.