Dateless buffalo experiment results

[That Canadian Guy]

After about 6 days of sitting in vinegar my dateless buffalo nickel was transformed into solid gold! Just kidding but it did reveal that the date is 1917. A few days ago it looked to me like it might be from the 20s but the date had not fully reformed at that point. My local coin dealer sells dateless buffalos for 40 cents each and now that I can restore the dates I plan to buy all the dateless buffalos I can and restore the dates, then maybe I can put together a nice collection. Now that I can restore the dates on old nickel does any one know if I can restore the dates on silver coins.

 

[brendan1414]

I actually JUST did that! haha i put them in vinegar for 3 days and didnt get much results... might throw them in there for a bit longer now because you got good results

 

[captainfwiffo]

I assembled a complete collection of Buffaloes this way for a net cost less than the price of the album that holds them. So I can offer advice.

That's a steep price for dateless Buffaloes. You can get them of eBay for about 15 cents apiece including shipping if you get good sized lots.

I recommend focusing on those with mint-marks and working hard to identify those with partial dates. An acid dated key date (all of which are branch mint) is worth about 10% of an undamaged one in G4 condition. An acid-dated common date is worth a nickel and would be more valuable dateless and undamaged to somebody who wants to use it for jewelry or something.

Also, certain dates can be identified without a date, as can some rare varieties like the 1916 doubled die and 1918/7-D overdate. 1921-S is one date in particular that can be identified and cherry-picked with no date at all, and is probably worth about $40 in dateless condition. After a soak in vinegar, it's probably worth five bucks tops.

 

[FormerTeller]

I recommend focusing on those with mint-marks and working hard to identify those with partial dates. An acid dated key date (all of which are branch mint) is worth about 10% of an undamaged one in G4 condition. An acid-dated common date is worth a nickel and would be more valuable dateless and undamaged to somebody who wants to use it for jewelry or something.

I was thinking about trying this with some of the many I've found in my former occupation; now I'm rethinking...

Thanks for the advice