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Why Does Vinegar /Nick-A-Date Work?

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Valued Member

United States
232 Posts
 Posted 03/01/2012  10:28 pm Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add John Paul to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
I have been reading a couple of threads about using vinegar/ nick-a-date or some other acid to restore the data on Buffalo nickels. This has made me wonder - why does this work? I had assumed that the date wore off and was gone due to it being a high point on the coin. Why does acid let you see what it was? I would think all of he coin was made of the same metal, so why would there be a different effect where the date was?

Thanks
JP
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CaptainFwiffo's Avatar
United States
4132 Posts
 Posted 03/01/2012  10:45 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add CaptainFwiffo to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
When metal is displaced during striking it changes at a microscopic level, work-hardening it. The greater the degree of displacement, the greater the hardening. It's like if you have a metal rod, and you repeatedly bend it. Each time you bend it, it's harder to bend in the exact same spot because the bent part hardens. It becomes very difficult to make straight and becomes increasingly wavy each time you bend it. Eventually it becomes very hard and brittle and breaks instead of bends.

The hardened metal is also less susceptible to chemical attack, so higher points on devices that were more displaced react less to the chemical used to restore the date.
Valued Member
United States
232 Posts
 Posted 03/01/2012  11:28 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add John Paul to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Thanks!

I would have never guessed that - a very clever method.
Bedrock of the Community
sel_69l's Avatar
Australia
21786 Posts
 Posted 03/02/2012  06:42 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add sel_69l to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I could not have explained it better myself!
Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts
 Posted 03/02/2012  11:53 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add just carl to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Other possibilities are that there are little elves inside the coins sitting under the dates. When any type of acid is applied to those areas, they push upward to try to escape making the date go up also.
OR the Mint purposely place the dates on those Nickels with Nickadate resistant metals.
Or what capainfwiffo said is true.
Valued Member
United States
306 Posts
 Posted 03/02/2012  6:13 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add VetStudent to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
interesting, thanks for the Q&A
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big777bill's Avatar
United States
376 Posts
 Posted 03/02/2012  6:52 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add big777bill to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Vinegar works
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XavierOfGreen's Avatar
United States
2589 Posts
 Posted 03/02/2012  7:04 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add XavierOfGreen to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
There are acids that can be used on virtually every type of coin to get the same effect depending on the metal, zinc lincons would probably be the exception.
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specksynder's Avatar
United States
1080 Posts
 Posted 03/02/2012  8:09 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add specksynder to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
the explanation I've heard is that the nickel is composed of nickel and copper. Because of their relative malleability, when struck with a die, a greater percentage of copper is pressed into the die features. The acid used eats away the nickel, but not the copper. Since features like the raised date have slightly higher copper content than surrounding areas, the date is exposed by the acid.
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