Vinegar Trick - Liberty Head Nickel?

So I bought a bunch of well circulated coins along with some old dealer stock of Pennies in VF to BU condition. I'm taking in cheaper old coins to see if I find a circulation that really interests me. In the last tube of Buffalo Nickels were some Liberty Head Nickels. Being the Neophyte that I am, I'd never come across these before, so I started researching.
Most are AG in my opinion with a good or two from the 1900's. One however has me intrigued. There were a few 1888 and 1895s that were in decent shape.
I then came across a coin that had 188? my eye and my kids eye says it looks like 6 which would make it a pretty neat coin to have even in its current state. That said, I could call it an 8 too... The reverse does have Cent on it.

A couple of questions.
1. Is there any other way to discern a date on a nickel like this? I've attached pictures and even after numerous shots, enhanced pictures and all that jazz, I still can't really make out the date.
2. If the date can't be discerned any other way, should I try the hydrogen peroxide / white vinegar trick to pull up the date? And if so will it ruin any potential value anyway?

The way I look at it, I don't want to ruin a coin but at the same time without a date, it really won't even work to put in a simple coin folder.

Opinions, suggestions and criticism is always welcome!

 

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No doubt to me it's an 1888. Also it's probably not going to be worth much either way. I'll let others weigh in.

 

IMO, I'd stay away from vinegar. I saw a 50/50 vinegar & distilled water after about 30 minutes the coin was unrecognizable. If I remember correctly it was an Indian head cent.
88

 

Pretty much anything you use to alter the surface of a coin lessens it's numismatic value. That being said, if you uncover a key date or variety, it might be worth something. Nic-a-date is the product used to bring out dates on Buffalo nics, and I have seen people using hydrogen peroxide/muriatic acid (2/1), so the vinegar peroxide might work. Let us see the results. BTW, looks like an 8 to me. Apply whatever you are using with a Q-tip to the date area only.

 

My take:

Don't apply an agent just to the date area. Coins with the date in a big, glowing blotch are just unnecessarily ugly.

Don't use hydrogen peroxide AND hydrochloric acid unless you want to dissolve the coin completely, and maybe gas yourself in the process. That mixture is far too aggressive.

I've had good luck with Buffalo restoration with a slow soak in plain white vinegar. It takes hours or days rather than seconds or minutes, but that's good -- it lets you soak the coin precisely long enough to reveal the detail you want. It gives the coin an even finish, not at all mistakable for an untreated coin, but more pleasant in my opinion than the drop-on-date appearance.

Oh, and don't use vinegar on cents. Only nickels, as far as I know, have the metallurgic characteristics that allow acid restoration. Everything else just turns ugly colors and/or dissolves without revealing further detail.

 

I should not touch it. Stick it in the '86 hole.

 

I didnt ask & it didnt occur to me the different types of vingar or maybe it was the fact it was used on a cent. Does any of this make a difference on the useage of vinegar?

 

Actually most vinegars are 5% acetic acid. Pickling vinegar I have seen at 7%, but the usual white stuff is 5%.

 

Cider vinegar (the brown kind) has more different stuff in it, some of which might adversely affect your coin -- for example, staining it -- although I don't know that it would cause problems. White vinegar is pretty much 5% acetic acid in water and nothing else; I'd stick with that. If nothing else, it's cheaper.

 

Interesting. I've always heard don't clean coins. To date I've only "cleaned" 2 coins, 1 an uncleaned ancient, 2 a current bout with BD.

 

Oh, don't ever EVER put vinegar on a non-problem coin, because it quickly turns it into a problem coin. It's just that some of us think "nicely restored date" is a lesser problem than "dateless". So does the market, if it turns out that your dateless Buffalo was actually a 1918/17 or 1916/16 -- those are worth some money even with restored dates.

 

Why stop there? Put it in the '85 hole - who's gonna argue with you when you can't read the last number?

 

LOL, I'll call this a very low risk/reward science project. Will go the less aggressive route of just white vinegar and see where we end up. I do tend to think it's an 88 but heck worst case I have an unrecognizable coin...which it kind of is already . Will post my pics and see what if anything comes out.

 

Will "Nic-A-Date" work on Liberties as it does on Buffalos?

 

Sort of. Same metal, same principle, but the shape of the date area is different, and I wouldn't be surprised if the effect is less... well, effective.

I've been meaning to try it on a few dateless or partial-date V's myself, but haven't gotten around to it.

 

It is not an 18 EDIT:65 to 85 for sure. My guesses:

1.1886
2.1883
3. .....very distant third, 1888 but not really.

Of course if there were no "cents" on the reverse.

 

Well heck no it's not an 1865!

 

Would you believe I was on my way to bed...

 

I was gonna suggest "1882", just to make trouble...

 

I have had success using a very strong light, and an eye loupe and then, tilting the coin around. Things will show up if you use a very high wattage light, that you didn't see before. Vinegar contains acid, and you may be able to reveal the date that way, and if it is a key date, it's now worthless.