Hi! I have an unusual buffalo nickel. I believe it to be 1920 D. Possible just 1920. The Buffalo and some letters look mixed up and restamped in some way. There is a broken hoof under the belly and a broken leg. Looks like letters...may be a D and maybe a 3 inside this mix. Anyone have any idea what happened to this coin?
There is no mint mark, so it is a Philly. The mint mark is located under FIVE CENTS on the reverse. You should soak it in acetone to remove the dried glue and other debris, then take a new look at it. Really severely worn, not much of an uptick on value. It does appear to be dated 1920. Posting pics of monitor screens is not recommended for a variety of reasons, 2 of which are pixels and scan lines. Best to stick to the main pic from a scope or camera…imo…Spark
Welcome to CoinTalk! It looks like something got spilled on the reverse and corroded it, or as @Spark1951 said, something is stuck to it. It's made random patterns, and the human mind tries to turn them into things that make sense -- in your case, letters and numbers and, um, buffalo parts. In any event, it's post-mint damage, not any kind of error.
Look at the broken off hoof? No way that is just something that is stuck on the coin. And the broken leg
Looks like a thin layer of something on the coin, possibly glue. Also looks like a well circulated 1920 nickel from Philadelphia as I see no signs of a mint mark.
The fellows are right. We used to often times glue our coins in whatever display we were working on at the time and what you see is glue residue.
Sorry, but it's absolutely something stuck to the coin, as some very knowledgeable and experienced collectors have already posted.
Appears to be a very well circulated 1920 P with additional environmental damage. NAV = No Added Value. Try the acetone soak and see what improvements it can make. Acetone won't hurt the coin, but when using it on a possible valuable coin, never rub the surface. You can roll a clean Q-Tip over spots to help clean away debris. Good luck.