Buffalo Nickel

History

The Liberty Head nickel had been in service since 1883 when it gave way in 1913 to a design by the sculptor James Earle Fraser, known then and now as the Buffalo nickel though more properly the Indian nickel. The first pieces were struck in February 1913 and reached circulation in early March. Complaints followed almost immediately: the raised mound under the bison carried FIVE CENTS in relief only .003 inches deep, and by April circulating examples were already showing heavy flattening, an outcome Clarence Hobbs had predicted. Chief Engraver Charles Barber responded later that year by cutting away most of the mound and recessing the denomination into an exergue, and while he was at it he smoothed the textured fields and reduced detail in the Indian's hair and the bison's hide, changes many considered a loss to the original design. Production continued under the modified reverse through 1938.

Details

Fraser designed both sides. The coins were struck in an alloy of 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel, weighing 5.00 grams, with a diameter of 21.20 millimeters and a plain edge carrying neither reeding nor lettering. Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco all produced the type, with the D and S mint marks centered beneath FIVE CENTS on the reverse and Philadelphia coins carrying none. Proof coinage came in two distinct phases: matte Proofs at Philadelphia from 1913 through 1916, which collectors of the day disliked for their lack of mirrored surfaces, then brilliant Proofs with polished fields in 1936 and 1937. Some of the earliest 1936 Proofs are only partially polished and sit somewhere between a business strike and a true Proof.

Features

The obverse carries the head of an Indian facing right, a composite drawn from several models studied from life, with the hair braided to the side and two feathers tied at the crown. LIBERTY appears in small letters at the upper right against the rim, the date sits at the lower left on the shoulder, and Fraser's initial F is placed below the date. On the reverse a bison stands beneath UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and E PLURIBUS UNUM, with FIVE CENTS on the raised mound below on Type 1 coins and relocated into the protected recess below the ground line on Type 2. Matte or pebbled fields, a texture favored by sculptors of the period, set the surfaces apart from most other American coinage. Recognized varieties include a 1916 with a sharply doubled date and the 1918/7-D, the only overdate in the series, scarce in every grade and a major rarity in Uncirculated condition. Accounts of the animal that served as the reverse model differ, some placing it at the Bronx Zoo and others at the Central Park Zoo.

Notable facts

• High relief combined with the hardness of the nickel alloy made the type difficult to strike, and well struck coins are the exception rather than the rule, particularly among Denver and San Francisco issues from 1914 through 1931.
• Because the first reverse was replaced so quickly, contemporary collectors set the coins aside, and the 1913 raised ground type remains relatively available in high grade.
• A complete type set requires both the mound reverse and the recessed exergue reverse.
• No attempt was made to protect the exposed obverse date, and examples with the date worn nearly smooth are common.
• The 1913-S Type 2 was struck to the extent of 1,209,000 pieces, and an MS67 example brought $49,938 at auction in February 2013.
• One known fraud involves nickel-plating worn Buffalo nickels to simulate Mint State surfaces, detectable by incorrect surface quality and differing edges, and a plated Very Fine 1918/7-D was once offered as Uncirculated.