To my mother-in-law? Almost, but not quite! Instead, one of the most beloved coins of all times was introduced 100 years ago—the buffalo nickel! (No connection implied between a buffalo and my mother-in-law! Any resemblance is purely coincidental, I swear.)
Designed by James Earl Fraser, these coins were introduced in 1913 and were produced through 1938. While worn examples are fairly attractive, those examples that are “mint fresh” are absolutely beautiful!
His initial design, though, was quickly changed. Underneath the buffalo, “Five Cents” sat too high on the coin and was quickly worn off. These original 1913 coins are called “type 1” or “bison standing on mound.” The corrected coin was the “bison standing on plain.” The “five cents” was cut into, or incused, so that it wouldn’t wear away so quickly. When you run across dateless buffalo nickels, you can tell which are the 1913 version by the ground the buffalo is standing on! The 1913 Type 2 coins have more value than the Type 1s.
Fraser admitted using three real Native Americans as models. Two of them were on the winning side at the Little Big Horn! These two were Iron Tail, an Oglala chief, and Two Moons, a Cheyenne chief. The third was Big Tree, a Kiowa. These men had been in Washington DC to visit Teddy Roosevelt when Fraser had the opportunity to study and photograph them.The buffalo model was named Black Diamond. He was a native New Yorker and never roamed the prairie anywhere! He was from a pair of buffalos that the Barnum Circus had donated to the Central Park Zoo. In the fall of 1915, this noble but domestic animal was slaughtered for sale in New York City.
Buffalo nickels can range in price from 25c or so for a dateless one to thousands for those rare dates and even rarer doubled dies. In general, though, a set in Good will run about $1,300 minus the error coins. Many can be found at bargain prices; even a later date in mint state, like new condition can be had for $20-25. Rolls with 40 dated coins can range from $25-35.
Buffalo nickel dates wore off of the coins quickly in circulation. Coin suppliers sell an acid that can be used to “treat” the date and raise it to a readable condition. Acid treated coins for sale should always be labeled as such since their value is greatly impaired. It is fun, though, to get a bag of dateless buffalos and raise the dates. A normal coin that might be worth $300 might still be worth $40-50 with a treated date.
The beautiful design for these coins has been recently recycled twice. In 2001, a silver buffalo dollar was sold in a mint package in both proof and regular strikes. These coins sell for about $100-200. In 2008, the mint started a series of gold coins using this design, in 1/10, 1/4, 1/2, and 1 ounce coins. These coins are truly magnificent! Their cost, of course, is closely tied to the price of gold.
Watch out for scammers, too. Currently there is a magazine ad for “vault bags” of these coins at inflated prices. I’m already reading reports that these bags contain only about 18 nickels, many without dates. Avoid these!
With Christmas coming, I have a book to recommend for your young coin collector. In 2002, Taylor Morrison published The Buffalo Nickel. It does a thorough job of telling the story of this coin from start to finish. This book is appropriate for about a third grader on up.
The Brown County Coin Club meets on the second Tuesday of each month, at 6:30 pm, at Principally Coins and Metal Detectors, at 3002 Early Blvd, in Early. Meetings provide a great opportunity to learn all about coin collecting. We hope to see you on October 8 for our next meeting. Call Robert Rollins at 325-201-6390 or me at 325-217-4129 for more information.
