Myers Depot Metal Detectors

KT found a bargain to add to the Royal Treasure Chest! UPDATE!

KingTotsalot

KingTotsalot

Official Tot Lot King
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Mabelvale, south of Little Rock, Arkansas
KT has a friend in Memphis, TN, that several years ago showed him a cigar box with some silver coinage...had been given to him by his mother. Well, now she is in a nursing home and he finally decided to sell the coins. KT had made an offer back then, and so was invited to inventory the coinage and make the purchase. Lots of pics below.

But here is the inventory:

1 64 Ken, 1 65 Ken
14 no date Standing Liberty quarters, 14 Washington quarters with dates
110 64 Rosies, 36 pre-64 Rosies

and then there were 440 Buffalo nickels, 173 with dates.

KT paid 10x face value for the silver, and 10 cents each for the Buffalos.

I think my friend may have taken this batch of coins to a local Memphis pawnshop and they tried to low ball him. Anyway KT feels good that he got the silver at slightly below scrap value, and it was initially thought that all the buffalos were slickers....he had examined 10 loose ones and not a one showed a date. KT figures He could dispose of them to a belt maker for 30 cents a piece to use as either decoration (polished up) or for large buttons when polished.

Someone may know about how to chemically recover the dates on these buffalos...if you do, please let Him know...think His Majesty remembers seeing a thread to that effect several years back. Similar process to raising the serial numbers on guns that have been filed off.

Anywho, enjoy the pics! It was a fun trip and this helped pay for it!
 

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pan4au said:
I saw this..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KXVrQrRRf0
Click to expand...

This is a very interesting video and uses normal household chemicals. KT found a web page on using only vinegar to etch out the dates on buffalo nickels, but doing it that way takes weeks vs. the video's suggested time of at the most 24 hours! KT will set up some trial runs and if it works, He shall document the procedure and will post the before and after pictures! Fortunately KT has a usb led microscope that can get some nice shots of the dates, etc!

Thanks, pan4au!

NOW...does anyone know any way to recover the dates on those standing lib quarters?? :D KT now realizes after some research there is essentially no way to pull up worn off dates on silver coins...so those SLQs are just worth scrap value.
 
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KingTotsalot said:
This is a very interesting video and uses normal household chemicals. KT found a web page on using only vinegar to etch out the dates on buffalo nickels, but doing it that way takes weeks vs. the video's suggested time of at the most 24 hours! KT will set up some trial runs and if it works, He shall document the procedure and will post the before and after pictures! Fortunately KT has a usb led microscope that can get some nice shots of the dates, etc!

Thanks, pan4au!
Click to expand...
there is an acid that can be put on the coin at the date location that will also restore it.. it leaves a black spot where applied. I don't recall it's name. A coin dealer put it on, what turned out to be, a 1921-s Buffalo for me almost 50 years ago. I later sold it to him.. wish I kept it.. too young then to know better :(
 
pan4au said:
there is an acid that can be put on the coin at the date location that will also restore it.. it leaves a black spot where applied. I don't recall it's name. A coin dealer put it on, what turned out to be, a 1921-s Buffalo for me almost 50 years ago. I later sold it to him.. wish I kept it.. too young then to know better :(
Click to expand...

KT suspects that would have been hydrochloric (muriatic) acid, but that is nasty stuff and will eat on your skin too, so KT is going to try this less aggressive method first which uses a concentrated form of acetic acid derived from common household vinegar and 3% hydrogen peroxide as an oxidizer. From the video reference, it does not display a significant color change to the finish of the coin, which KT thinks would be more desirable.
 
Nice score KT!

That chemical is called Nic-a-date, can be found on eBay. One drop of the liquid on the area of the date, and it appears almost instantly. Or, soak the coin in white vinegar for a few days.
 
amc rulz said:
Nice score KT!

That chemical is called Nic-a-date, can be found on eBay. One drop of the liquid on the area of the date, and it appears almost instantly. Or, soak the coin in white vinegar for a few days.
Click to expand...

Thanks, amc rulz! I am running my test now, but will investigate the nic-a-date lead too! With over 250 to do, it would be great to have something that is a bit more instant! :D
 
The results of using vinegar and H2O2 to recover dates on Buffs...KT's test.

OK, so KT followed some directions He got off the above linked YouTube video for trying to recover a date off 2 Buffalo nickels...Nickel 1 was a slicker, no sign of a date. After a 12 hour soak still no sign of a date so let it run for 24 hours. You will see the results in the first several pictures. Nickel 2 showed a partial but poor date...after a 6 hour soak the entire date displayed reasonably well.

The close up images of the dates were taken with a usb led digital microscope at about 20X. The microscope image was not very satisfying to KT on Nickel 1(image 3 very hard to tell anything), which He thought was a 1919 when examining with an Optivisor and oblique lighting, so He used a magnifying lens and His coin camera to take a second image, which with some photo enhancing shows a decent 1913 date. Test Nickel 2 had 35 showing but after etching for 6 hours showed 1935 distinctly.

Anyway, dates were recovered on both coins. KT cannot wait to try out the nic-a-date fluid He ordered off ebay yesterday. Watched a video of a young MDer using it and he only allowed it to react about 20 seconds. Did not get a black area but the coins he worked on did have a lighter area where he used the fluid. Saw another video of a guy using nic-a-date and he left it on there like 2 minutes and he got obvious dark staining on the coins. KT does not think he realized what he was doing...basically over treating the area..

Anyway, here are the images showing what I used to etch the dates. Put white vinegar in small plastic cups, and put in freezer until partially frozen...30 to 60 minutes...then pour off unfrozen part. Drop nickel face up into slush and add a splash of hydrogen peroxide...3 % common. As the reaction proceeds, the color of the liquid will change from clear to pale blue to moderate blue...pale blue in a few hours and moderate blue in 24 hours. KT does not think a 24 hour soak is necessary....check coin at 6, 12, and 18 hours to look for date.
 

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Sweet! I would check those buffalos for error coins as well like the 3 legged buffalo! You might be able to pull a date off those slq using silver testing acid, saw a thread on here where someone used it on an unidentifiable silver coin and it revealed enough detail to tell what it is plus the date.
 
Coleminer713 said:
Sweet! I would check those buffalos for error coins as well like the 3 legged buffalo! You might be able to pull a date off those slq using silver testing acid, saw a thread on here where someone used it on an unidentifiable silver coin and it revealed enough detail to tell what it is plus the date.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Coleminer713, for that lead on silver testing acid. KT will do some further investigation into that possibility. Right now His Majesty has His Royal Hands full to get dates on all those dateless Buffalos. He did purchase a Buffalo album off ebay and will first fill what He can with the dated ones, then will start to fill it in with the raised dated buffs. KT plans on noting the raised dates in the margins with a small "r" by those nickels.
 
Well, KT received his Nic-a-date and tested it on two buffalos....took all of 15 seconds to raise the date on one, and 2 15 second applications to raise the date on the other. 1916 and 1920.

Before KT does a lot more, He has ordered a Buffalo Nickel holder album that will arrive around the 20th. Once He has that in hand, He will go through all of the ones with dates, and pick out examples of every year and mint mark to mount in the album, then He will start raising dates and everyone that will fill a hole will be inserted, with a small "r" written by the coin to indicate that the date was raised. We shall see how many slots from that 440 Buffs He purchased will fit in the Royal Album! KT will post back in this thread with the results! :D:D

KT did order some silver testing liquid from ebay, but after continued reading about dates on slick silver coins, He seriously doubts We will have any positive results on those SLQs with the dates that are slicked off.
 
Well the Buffalo holder arrived today!

And KT has started filling His Royal Buffalo Album! First His Majesty went through all the dated Buffs and placed the dates on the album, and check duplicates against what was already in the album, replacing when necessary with a better example. That took about 45 minutes. Once completed, KT pressed those coins into their slots.

Then KT went through all the 270 or so no date buffs, looking for Type 2 mound 1913 buffs. Recovered several. Since the mounds are strongly worn, KT needs to raise any possible mint marks off the mound, to fill holes in the album.

Finally, KT has gone through the remaining dateless buffs and pulled out about 2 dozen with mint marks. Since those are more needed in the album, His Majesty will work on them first. A few of the mint marks are so worn, He will need to raise them also, just to be certain if they are d or s. Once KT has filled every possible Philadelphia slot, He will stop raising the dates on those with no mint marks...no need to waste chemicals.

Just wanted folks to know the project is now in full swing! :D:D
 
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