Best way to date dateless SLQs

rld14 · January 20, 2009 2:41PM

I remember hearing that there was a commercial product that would get the date to show on these.

I have about 2 rolls of dateless coins that I wouldn't mind dating, just for amusement purposes...

Thanks!

Bayard1908 · January 20, 2009 2:57PM

You may be thinking of Nic-A-Date. It works on nickels, not silver.

rld14 · January 20, 2009 3:37PM

I know that Nic-A-Date won't work on silver, I seem to recall there being something out there at one point that was specifically for silver. Like Silver Date Back or something like that.

Broadstruck · January 20, 2009 10:36PM

<< I remember hearing that there was a commercial product that would get the date to show on these.

I have about 2 rolls of dateless coins that I wouldn't mind dating, just for amusement purposes...

Thanks! >>

rld14, Maybe you need to take a break from the hobby, as it's pretty bad when you want to start dating coins... instead of people!

dorkkarl · January 20, 2009 10:36PM

i have heard rumors time to time, but never seen a convincing evidence that there's a way to do it. there have been scammers who have put dates on dateless slqs though.

K S

CertifiedGoldCoins · January 20, 2009 11:49PM

Nitric acid is used by jewelers to test silver, but it is not something to fool with, and no doubt will ruin the coin, even if it gives a clue about the missing date.

garsmith · January 21, 2009 12:11AM

What exactly is a Besy way?

is that like a combination of best and easy?

holeinone1972 · January 21, 2009 12:41AM

<< What exactly is a Besy way?

is that like a combination of best and easy? >>

It's only available on a need to know basis, and currently you do not need to know.

rld14 · January 21, 2009 3:01AM

Doh!

Steve27 · January 21, 2009 3:06AM

The best way to date dateless SLQs is by the remaining features. For example type 1 and type 2 can be determined by the hair curl even in very low grades. That's how I know this is a 1917-S:

seanq · January 21, 2009 4:09AM

<< Nitric acid is used by jewelers to test silver, but it is not something to fool with, and no doubt will ruin the coin, even if it gives a clue about the missing date. >>

I remember trying to research this when I was taking a metallurgy class in college too many years ago. I forget now the details, but the acids which are capable of etching silver are generally pretty nasty and not commercially available.

Sean Reynolds

BlindedByEgo · January 21, 2009 4:12AM

Ask 'em real nice like and offer 'em likker?

PerryHall · January 21, 2009 4:17AM

<< The best way to date dateless SLQs is by the remaining features. For example type 1 and type 2 can be determined by the hair curl even in very low grades. >>

Wouldn't it easier to differentiate type1 and type2 SLQ's by the star placement on the reverse?

RWB · January 21, 2009 4:22AM

Maybe you should get one of those fine black permanent markers and write your preferred date in the space provided on the coin. Ebayers would love to see a real “1931” SLQ….

rbf · January 21, 2009 8:23AM

I am almost positive there used to be a commercial product similar to Nic-a-Date for dating silver coins. Presumably it contained nitric acid or something similar, but undoubtedly it was taken off the market a long time ago. I looked up nitric acid in Wikipedia and under uses it says "a solution of nitric acid and alcohol, Nital, is used for etching of metals to reveal the microstructure." So you probably need to get your hands on some of that stuff (but whatever you do, don't get it on your hands

) Not sure where you can find it though, perhaps an industrial chemical supply co. or a chemistry lab?

Steve27 · January 21, 2009 8:28AM

<< 

<< The best way to date dateless SLQs is by the remaining features. For example type 1 and type 2 can be determined by the hair curl even in very low grades. >>

Wouldn't it easier to differentiate type1 and type2 SLQ's by the star placement on the reverse? >>

Nope, the hair curl take less than a second and it's on the obverse.

leothelyon · January 21, 2009 9:15AM

The best way to get a date back on a quarter.............Link!

Leo

leothelyon · January 21, 2009 9:19AM

<< The best way to date dateless SLQs is by the remaining features. For example type 1 and type 2 can be determined by the hair curl even in very low grades. That's how I know this is a 1917-S:

>>

Hey, I think I can see a full head on that one.

Leo

Bochiman · January 21, 2009 9:22AM

We need one of our resident radiologists (or someone with access to a good/strong xray machine) to see if the impressions from the stamping of the date are denser than the rest of the metal under the surface and if it can be discerned that way....

illini420 · January 21, 2009 12:14PM

<< We need one of our resident radiologists (or someone with access to a good/strong xray machine) to see if the impressions from the stamping of the date are denser than the rest of the metal under the surface and if it can be discerned that way....

>>

Coin X-Ray Experiment

Seems like it doesn't really work... pretty cool x-ray of a Buffalo Nickel though (see mgoodm3's avatar in that thread).

ProofArtworkonCircs · January 21, 2009 2:58PM

I have restored a SLQ date with somewhat diluted nitric acid. It did not work as well as the nickel date restorer does on nickels. But then again, I only tried this once and did not perfect my solution. Somehow my nitric acid was contaminated with chloride. I found this out when I tried to extract silver from war nickels and got a premature precipatation.

Coxe · January 21, 2009 3:08PM

Just look at the damned tag on the holder! (Just a jab at the kool-ade crowd.)

Acids should work. Weaker acids too, but certainly more slowly than industrial quality nitric acid. Might be preferred to as the damage can be more controlled. Invasive technique might also be possible, ways to view the lattice deformations that transferred below the surface at minting.

Bochiman · January 21, 2009 3:25PM

<< 

<< We need one of our resident radiologists (or someone with access to a good/strong xray machine) to see if the impressions from the stamping of the date are denser than the rest of the metal under the surface and if it can be discerned that way....

>>

Coin X-Ray Experiment

Seems like it doesn't really work... pretty cool x-ray of a Buffalo Nickel though (see mgoodm3's avatar in that thread). >>

I remember that and it was my asking if the "unopened" GSA morgan boxes could be xrayed so that an unscrupulouos seller could already know what is there and then sell as "any date"....Mark took the challenge and tried.

That was almost 6 years ago though......I'm wondering if equipment is better or stronger now or some other equipment....there has to be a way to do it (impractical for most of us, but still cool if it is done).

Coxe · January 21, 2009 3:47PM

Medical X-rays wouldn't work. A particle beam at the accelerator I used to be associated with would stand a better chance ot resolving things. Not sure that would work either though. The ratio of the scattering crosssection (or wavelength) to the lattice constant is what is important. Cu-Ag alloys have lattice constants in the neighborhood of 4 Angstroms or 4 X 10^-10 m. X-rays have wavelengths over a wide range. Soft x-rays would probably be what are produced in medical equipment and would have wavelngths commensurate with the lattice spacing. That would not work. The scattering would dominate. Hard x-rays or gamma rays (100 times shorter wavelengths) would be useful and are routinely part of a material scientist's tool box for analyzing crystal structures (metals are crystals). The problem is in interpreting the output. It isn't like a simple image but a pattern that confirms a model or determines, based on a model, the details of structural factors.

Bochiman · January 21, 2009 4:05PM

Thanks Coxe.

As a layman, I was grasping (plus, I had a co-worker ask something similar the other day so it got me thinking about).
Appreciate the explanation!

Best way to date dateless SLQs

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The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!

My Jefferson Nickel Collection

The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!

My Jefferson Nickel Collection

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