GTG - 1913 T1 Buffalo 5C

“The fields of all Type 1 nickels are textured as on all original models, which gives the luster a shimmering quality.”

Source: “The Complete Guide to Buffalo Nickels” by David W. Lange - Pg. 46 (1992)

“The coin also had matte or pebbled fields popular with sculptors of the day, instead of the smooth or polished surfaces typically seen on U.S. coins....”

“...Barber also made additional modifications (beyond the denomination mound change) to the design, smoothing the textured fields and reducing details in both the Indian’s hair and the bison’s hide, changes that reduced the artistic strength of the original design in the opinion of many.”

Source: 5 Cent Nickels – Buffalo Nickel, Type 2, 1913-1938
By
CoinWeek
-
October 10, 2010

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I’m curious if Barber did this purely as an aesthetic preference or if there was a technical reason for it in case anyone knows.

Personally I love the smooth quality of the fields on a gem 38-D as well.

@johnmilton

 

This is an educated guess comment on my part, but I’d say that Barber smoothed out the Buffalo Nickel fields because he thought that the coin might strike up better, or to extend the life of the dies.

A battle existed during the period from 1907 when Theodore Roosevelt got Augustus St. Gaudens involved in designing coins until 1921. The outside artist – coin designers were into esthetics but didn’t know much about mass producing coins. Barber who an expert at making coin dies, but not greatest artist. That’s not to say that all of his work was mundane. Barber’s design for the Panama – Pacific $2.50 gold was quite innovative in style and substance. He is best remembered for the Barber Dime, Quarter and Half Dollar, and the designs for those coins are not very exciting in my opinion.

Some of the outside artist designs didn’t work. The prime example of that was Herman MacNeil’s Standing Liberty Quarter which faced production problems through out its run. He almost got it right with the 1917 Type I Quarter, but then he messed with the design to arm Ms. Liberty for World War I, and it was never the same.

Here are the two 1913 Matte Proof nickels for your review.

Type I



Type II



And here is a 1936 Brillant Proof

 

Wow, I had read about the ‘36’s but never seen one. That is beautiful. The matte proofs have a delicate, subtle thing going on that is really cool as well. Thanks for sharing.

 

MS66, and what a superb example

 

MS66+

 

Here is the Satin Finish 1936 Buffalo Nickel. The collectors didn't like them back then, and they have always sold for less than the Brilliant version. I think that this piece showcases the Buffalo Nickel design better than any other piece in my collection. This coin is graded Satin Proof -67.


The 1936 Brilliant Proof I posted earlier is a very nice one. I sold it when I was a dealer, because another dealer "offered a price I couldn't refuse." It was much higher than than the price PR-67s sell for today. Maybe that dealer got it into a PR-68 holder somehow, I don't know.

This one is also graded PR-67, but it's not as nice.

 

66-67

 

I’m at MS65+, but would imagine having to pay a hefty premium to own such a beauty.

 

Your grading is way more conservative that the TPGs. The 1913 Matte Proof coins are graded PR-66. The 1936 nickels are all PR-67s. It's hard to find these coins in grades higher than those. None of these coins have been cleaned, dipped or have hairlines. The only negatives are black spots, which are usually the reason for the point reductions on high grade examples of these coins. Most of the PR-65 coins I have seen have too many spots for my taste.

If these coins have been breathed upon or, worse yet, sneezed upon, you get the spots.

And yes, the prices are high. The cheapest one is the 1936 Satin finish piece, which is a bit over $2,000. All of the others are higher.

 

Yes, expensive, but I would gladly trade a sizable chunk of my collection to have a coin like that. It says everything you ever need about Buffalo nickels, and you wouldn’t need any of the others.

 

Well, I would be falling over myself to pay the price guide’s $70 for this one.

 

Betcha you couldn't get the money out fast enough..yeah when I saw the guide price I was like

 

Best looking $70 coin I’ve seen in a very long time!

 

You can’t buy a CAC approved coin like that for $70.

 

Yeah, I was absentmindedly viewing coins and admiring the images of this one... when I clicked back to the main page and saw it was 100 bucks shipped I was all over that. Small premium but it might as well have been $70... seems like a lot of coin for a bill and I’d have paid more for it. Thanks all for playing

 

$100?! Shut up and take my money! great purchase