1938 Buffalo Five Cents 1913-1938 MS66

History

The Liberty Head nickel had been in service since 1883 when it gave way in 1913 to James Earle Fraser's design, known popularly as the Buffalo nickel and more properly as the Indian Head nickel. Nineteen twenty-five years later the type reached its end, and 1938 became the final year of the series before the Jefferson design took over the denomination. Collectors at the time understood exactly what was happening, since the changeover occurred within the same calendar year, and large quantities of original uncirculated rolls were set aside as a result. That contemporary saving accounts for much of how the date behaves in the market today.

Details

James Earle Fraser designed both the obverse and the reverse, an unusual arrangement for a circulating United States coin of the period. Denver production carries the D mintmark on the reverse, below FIVE CENTS. San Francisco struck no Buffalo nickels at all in 1938, leaving Denver as the mint associated with the final year of the type.

Features

The obverse carries the profile of a Native American, while the reverse shows a bison standing on a raised mound. Two repunched mintmark dies are recognized for the date, the popular 1938-D/D with clear doubling from a mintmark punched into the die twice, and a second die catalogued by PCGS as RPM-2. The best known variety is the 1938-D/S over-mintmark, discovered around 1961 by Robert Kerr and C.G. Langworthy, who submitted their findings to the then-new weekly Coin World, with Q. David Bowers attesting to the authenticity of the over-mintmark. Because San Francisco produced no Buffalo nickels that year, the likely explanation is that leftover S-mintmarked dies were repunched with a D at the Denver Mint.

Notable facts

• The 1938-D is the most common Buffalo nickel in mint state and Gem condition by several multiples, making it the default choice for anyone buying a single high-grade example of the type.
• The issue is somewhat scarce in circulated condition, an inversion of the usual pattern for a 20th century coin, because so much of the output was hoarded rather than spent.
• Mint State examples of the 1938-D/D repunched mintmark variety are available by the thousands, often in Gem grades.
• PCGS had certified 60 examples of the 1938-D/D at MS-67 as of February 2012.
• The 1938-D/S was among the first over-mintmarks to be publicized in the modern hobby.