Buffalo Nickels! Key Data For Collectors & Surprising Facts!

President Theodore Roosevelt began the movement to make US coins more appealing in the early 1900s. His influence brought about the Lincoln cent in 1909. And, the upgrade continued after his administration. During the administration of President William Howard Taft, an artist was commissioned to create a new nickel with distinctly American themes. The result of this is the Buffalo nickel. It began its run in 1913 and continued until 1938.

1913 Buffalo Nickel James Earle Frasier was the name of the artist who created the Buffalo nickel. If you look below the date on the face of the coin, you will see an "F" for his last name "Frasier".

"F" mark on Buffalo Nickel Photo by PCGS During the first year of production, there were two designs for the back of the nickel. On the original, the bison is standing on a rounded mound of dirt. On this mound of dirt reads "FIVE CENTS". This design didn't work out well, as the wording would wear off. This version is known as "TYPE 1" or "RAISED MOUND". 1913 Raised Mound Buffalo Nickel The second design of the back of the Buffalo nickel has a flatter mound and the lettering is under it, rather than on top of it. This version is called "Type 2". That way the lettering wouldn't wear off so fast. 1913 Type 2 Buffalo Nickel

Errors and Varieties There are several interesting varieties of the Buffalo nickel. I present some here. First, is the 1916 Double Die.

1916 Buffalo Nickel, double die Photo by PCGS Here is a close-up. 1916 Buffalo Nickel, double die Photo by PCGS Next is the 1918 over 7. You can see the die has been altered to turn a "1917" nickel into a "1918" nickel. 1918 over 7 Photo by PCGS

Here is a close-up. Buffalo Nickel, Three Legged Photo by PCGS

There is variety of errored Buffalo nickels which occurred from 1913 to 1930. These were caused by over-polishing the dies. These are known as "Two Feathers" Buffalo nickels. You will notice by looking at the picture below, the third feather from the headdress of the chief, closest to the back of his neck, is missing. Not all numismatic groups recognize the Two Feather Buffalo nickel as an official variety. As you can see from the photo, PCGS does. Key Dates The 1913-S Type 2, 1913-D Type 2 and the 1921-S all had low mintage and are key dates for this reason. History Who is the chief on the face of the coin? This is actually a combination of three different chiefs. The artist, James Earle Frasier, didn't want to show favoritism to any particular tribe. So, he had three chiefs model for him. These chiefs were as follows. Chief Big Tree - Kiowa

Chief Two Moons - Cheyenne

Chief Iron Tail - Lakota

There were other Native Americans who also claimed to be models for the coin. Perhaps this is true. But, per Frasier, the above were the three. Bison or Buffalo? The animal on the back of the coin is a Bison. Although they are distant relatives of the buffalo, they are distinctly different animals.

American Bison Photo by Wikipedia The American Bison has a huge, muscular hump on its back which allows it to plow through snow easier. These are missing from Asian and African Buffalo. Also, its horns are smaller than its Asian and African ancestors. You could argue the point. However, consider this from Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biological Institute, "Though the terms are often used interchangeably, buffalo and bison are distinct animals. Old World “true” buffalo ... are native to Africa and Asia. Bison are found in North America and Europe. Both bison and buffalo are in the bovidae family, but the two are not closely related." Perhaps we should call them Bison nickels!