Description

The Indian Head or "Buffalo" nickel features a portrait of an American Indian on the obverse along with the word "Liberty" along the rim and the date of issue. The reverse features the American Bison, commonly referred to as a buffalo, the words "United States of America", "E Pluribus Unum", and the stated value of "Five Cents".

General Information

The Buffalo nickel was designed by James E. Fraser and his initial "F" appears below the date. The nickel composition is made of 75% copper and 25% nickel and is just over 21 mm in size. Buffalo nickels were minted from 1913 till 1938 and were struck at the Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco Mints. Nickels produced at the Denver and San Francisco Mints feature a "D" or "S" mint mark on the reverse below the words "Five Cents".

The first Buffalo nickels produced in 1913 were originally struck with a design that displayed the buffalo standing on a mound. There seemed to be problems in striking the new nickels and later in the same year the design was changed and featured a buffalo standing on a plain.

Type 1, Buffalo On Mound

Type 2, Buffalo On Plain

Author's Notes & Comments

The key date to the Buffalo nickel series is the 1913-S type 2 nickel depicting a buffalo standing on the plain. Semi-key dates are the 1913-D type 2, 1914-D and 1921-S. Other better date coins are the 1913-S type 1, 1914, 1914-S, 1915-S, 1917-D, 1917-S, 1918-D, 1918-S, 1924-S, 1926-S and 1931-S. The most common date Buffalo nickels are the Philadelphia Mint coins minted from 1916 to 1920 and 1923 to 1930. Especially common, except for a few varieties, are the Buffalo nickels minted at all three Mints (P, D & S) from 1934 to 1938.

This author is not old enough to remember when these nickels circulated but I can remember my father still plucking a few from pocket change through the mid to late 1960's. Buffalo nickels always seem to bring back fond memories to many people.

Varieties

The 1913 type 1 and 2 varieties are common enough for most all collectors to own however there are a couple of other varieties that are very tough to find or may be too expensive to buy in any grade. One such example is the famous 1937-D three legged buffalo nickel. This variety was struck with a die that had been polished, to extend the die's useful life, until the center of the buffalo's most forward leg had been removed. Because of the rarity of this coin, counterfeit 3-legged Buffalo nickels are also known to exist.