Coins and Paper Money -> Coins – US -> Nickels -> Buffalo (1913-1938): 1913-19, 1920-29, 1930-38, Mixed Lots
The popular US coin called the Buffalo Nickel was only minted from 1913 to 1938, but it quickly became one of the most popular coins and certainly one of the most collectible. The Buffalo Nickel used to be very easy to find throughout the 1960’s, but after that point, availability dropped off sharply. This meant that these coins became very sought after and to this day finding a Buffalo Nickel is certainly cause for celebration.
The actual design on the coin is not really a buffalo, but rather a depiction of the American Bison. The front of a Buffalo Nickel features the face of a Native American. The designer, James Earle Fraser, used three historic Native American chiefs as a composite for this design, and the buffalo was placed on the back. It was his intention to create a coin that would be similar in style to the coins produced during ancient times and little did he know that his creation would become this popular.
Early copies of the Buffalo Nickel carry the words Five Cents on the back, and these are very rare indeed. Production on this particular design was halted once it was observed that the raised lettering would wear off quickly. For collectors, it is truly remarkable to come across one of the coins that was minted during this period, particularly if the words are still intact. Once the new design was released, the lettering was lowered, but oddly enough, the raised lettering on the date was not.
This led to yet another similar problem, but this was never actually fixed. Most Buffalo Nickels no longer have their date intact due to this problem, so it can be complicated to determine when exactly the coin was minted. However, many collectors feel that this backstory adds to the overall charm of the coin.
There was one error in the design that only appears on the coins that were minted during 1937. For some reason, the buffalo design was changed slightly and on these coins, it appears as though it only has three legs. When you add this to the fact that the coin would stop being circulated in less than a year, the 1937 edition is probably the most sought after edition.
Even though these coins were mass produced between the period of 1913 to 1938, finding one today is very rare. It is estimated that approximately 1 in every 25,000 nickels is a Buffalo Nickel, but many collectors would lower that further. This means that there is a big demand for those that collect this type of coin and you can typically find them only at auction or if a private collector decides to sell their collection.
The Buffalo Nickel was the inspiration for another coin that was recently released. The American Buffalo is a gold coin that takes many of its design cues from Fraser’s original. Although this may have more face value, to the collector of Buffalo Nickels, there is no replacement for the original.
Originally posted 2008-08-19 05:00:07. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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