Reader "Dusty Farmer" sent the following question: I have a Buffalo nickel with no date on it, and I was wondering if you could tell me the year was done and what it's worth. I watched a lot of websites that said there are Buffalo nickel key dates for the brand S and D Mint, but this has a nickel And on it. Can you help?
Reply:Dates on many Buffalo Nickels have worn because was given on a significant part of the design and Buffalo Nickels strongly disseminated for many decades. Once the data has been lost, the currency not worth anything to a collector because without knowing the date, you cannot determine its value or know how rare it is. Undated Buffalo Nickels are worth about 15 cents each, but only because people use them for jewelry and shirt buttons. Normally nickels without their dates are only face value.
And you see on the side "heads" under the place where it should be the date is actually a F, which stands for (James) Fraser, the artist who designed the currency. Buffalo Nickels all have this letter, independently of the Mint of they were smitten. If the currency is a mintmark to all, will be under the Buffalo on the side of the coin, beneath the words five cents inverse ("Code"). If there is no letter vi, nickel was minted at the Mint of Philadelphia. D stands for the Denver Mint and s stands for Mint in San Francisco.
Sometimes you can retrieve the date on a dateless Buffalo putting a drop of ferric chloride in place where should be the date. This chemical called "data Restorer," is sold under the trade name "Nic-A-Date". Although will cause the date reappear on a Buffalo who lost his date, ferric chloride acid also leaves a blotchy, rough, spot of damage on the coin that ruins totally any value that could have had nickel. Furthermore, the date will fade over time, and again each time you use the chemical brings back again, less and less the date (leaving a mark of acid increasingly nasty instead).
Never used chemical substances on the surface of your nickels to restore partial dates because partial-date Buffalo Nickels are better than totally dateless nickels. Depending on which digits are showing, nickel can be worth anywhere from 50 cent (if the party who show first digit of 2 or 3) by around 20% of the market value if the figures showing the last 2 or 3 (thereby revealing the actual date that was hit the Buffalo nickel).
You can get a list of key dates Buffalo nickel, or find out how much are your nickels to Buffalo full-date worth in my guide to Buffalo to price.
