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I don't know if this topic has been discussed before, as I usually only read the silver or copper threads... but does anyone know if the process described in the linked article would work on silver coins without damaging them? Think of the potential of ebay sales if an opportunistic seller did a bit of research on the recoverability of obliterated dates without damaging the coins? You could market a bunch of total slicks as potentially containing great rarities you could then specify. Of course, you would mention that doctoring coins can lower their value... but c'mon... if you have the possibility of possessing a high-dollar coin in ANY grade (and remember, its just a slick now) wouldn't you jump at it? See article that is linked:
http://www.csudh.edu/oliver/demos/buffnick/buffnick.htm

Vinegar, of course, is a weak acid. There is an established similar process based on an ASTM standard used for revealing metal stamps. Gets used in the vintage car restoration business when a machine shop has accidently machined off the VIN stamp on an engine block. Have never tried this for anything but cars/cast iron, but there is no reason it wouldn't work in other cases - I just haven't done any research on those others. See link below. Please take care, be safe etc, read the safety precautions when working with acid - standard disclaimer apply

http://www.camaros.org/public/acidetch.txt

Thanks, Rich for the link. I really don't have time to try this myself, but would be interested in the results of anyone who conducted some research on this. Kurr seems like a good candidate

Def sound promising, would like to hear if Kurr is interested in trying it!

As a coin collector I am against most coin cleaning, however dateless Buffalo nickles are not valuable and dateless SLQ are only worth melt so I say go ahead and give it a shot. Who knows, maybe you will find that Type 1.

I once soaked a slick Buffalo nickel in vinegar for three months. Afterwards, there was a ghost of a date visible. If I squinted at it really hard, I could maybe read "1925". But the vinegar took all the shine off the metal. It's an ugly gray and completely non-reflective now.

Cerulean wrote:I once soaked a slick Buffalo nickel in vinegar for three months. Afterwards, there was a ghost of a date visible. If I squinted at it really hard, I could maybe read "1925". But the vinegar took all the shine off the metal. It's an ugly gray and completely non-reflective now.

Three months in vinegar. That thing must of smelled like an old colored easter egg after that soaking.