Has anyone ever tried this Nic-a-Date stuff on a dateless SLQ?

JxnBoy

The thread about the dateless Buffs got me thinking.

Type 2 SLQ's from 1917 to 1924 are very common in poor condition without dates (I guess technically that doesn't even qualify for PO-01 since you have to be able to determine a date). Lots of people sell them on ebay and I'm assuming people collect them just for silver content.

However, there are certain coins that may be worth a slight premium, even acid etched, like a 1919-S or a 1923-S.

Anyone ever tried?

seanq

Doesn't work. I remember looking into this back when I was studying material science in college. Nic-a-Date is formulated to etch nickel, not silver. The chemicals needed to etch silver are much more volatile.


Sean Reynolds

coppercoins

I concur...only works on nickel. Tried it once on copper many years ago, does nothing. I was trying to pull the last digit of a 191?D cent to see if it was a 14D.

Veep

I tried it for kicks once on a WL Half. It did help slightly in bringing up the date, but as has already been mentioned, it left a very ugly black/brown spot.

19Lyds

I've tried "Nic-o-rette" but not "Nic-a-date"

koynekwest

The same company that made the date restorer for nickels used to make a date restorer specifically for quarters. I haven't seen any for 30 years or more, tho.

Conder101

Nic-A-Date is basicly Nitric acid. It would probably work on a silver coin, but you have the problem that the result of putting nitric acid on silver is silver nitrate which turns black upon exposure to light. So the end result of nic-a-date on a silver coin is just a dark black spot. Most silver compounds turn black when exposed to light. One that doesn't is silver chloride which is white. So you might have better luck using hydrochloric acid a
on the date.

JxnBoy

Interesting info. It sure sounds like the use of a volatile chemicals is necessary. I doubt I'll be trying this. I'm not even sure where I'd find Hydrochloric acid. Thanks for the replies.

Yumawolf

Hydrochloric acid & sulfuric acid can be found at swimming pool stores. It's used for cleaning pools.

nankraut

I've tried Nicole; worked real good, but too expensive.

Nocerino18

Where can you find Nicole?

I tried Nic-a-date on SLQ's and it doesn't work and leaves a black spot.