The Indian Head or Buffalo Nickel was minted from 1913 to 1938. In its first year of issue, 1913, there are two varieties. In the Type 1 variety the Buffalo is standing on a mound or high ground. Type 2 has the Buffalo on lower ground. Due to minting problems the ground was redesigned and made flat, with a straight line drawn for the ground. James Earle Fraser was the designer and his initial, an F, is below the date. He used 3 different Native Americans as models for the obverse. The reverse is reported to have been modeled after Black Diamond, a bison that was in the New York City Zoo at the time this coin was designed. President Theodore Roosevelt wanted to capture the grandeur and style of Classical Greek and Roman designs on US coins. He felt the current style was uninspiring and he wanted Saint-Gaudens to design the nickel in 1907. Saint-Gaudens died later that year so U.S. Mint designers took on the job. The competition was fierce and the lady 5 coin designs were not by Mint employees. Barber designed a Nickel with the likeness of George Washington on had more been on a US coin but was on the large-size U.S. Silver Certificate currency. The Fine Arts Commission, which selected the winning designs, sought something different. A nearly unanimous choice was an American Indian and a Bison. The coins were minted at the Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco Mints simultaneously. They were very popular among the public and the designs provoked positive comments worldwide. In many foreign countries, the “Old West” was how America was best represented. In 1913 the high ground design had the date and denomination wearing off very rapidly. This led to a redesign that had the date numerals widened. The denomination was minted below a line which became the ground the Bison was standing on. These changes protected them from rapid wear but not as mint officials had hoped. They were successful enough to remain in effect until 1938 when production was halted. In 1937, an error was created that went on to become one of most well-known American coins. It is believed the coin feeder malfunctioned and failed to send blank planchets to the coin press. This resulted in the two 1937-D Buffalo Nickel dies clashing against one another causing the dies to receive impressions of the designs from either side. A mint employee, trying to eliminate these clash marks, began to polish off these marks rather than switching to the unused Buffalo Nickel dies that were being held in reserve. Unbeknownst to the employee, this over-polishing removed details from the Bison’s front right leg. Out of the 17,826,000 minted in Denver it is unknown exactly how many were minted using those damaged dies. The number is fairly small. It is well believed that the majority of these coins have surfaced from known Buffalo Nickel hoards. It is a fact that many of the 1937-D Nickels were shipped to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and then to the sub-branch in Helena, Montana. This variety was first reported in 1937. The efforts of many coin dealers help the public in noting this error. From there its popularity began to soar. And today, it’s popularity has only grown. This is one of two examples that are in my personal collection.
Very nice write up, Dave. I like your specimen pictured as well! Here's the one I was able to add to my collection:
I read a many years ago the reason the 1913 Type 2 came out was due to the problems the government had with the Liberty Nickel. When the Liberty Nickel first went into circulation nowhere on the coin was the word "cents". This resulted in many were passed as five dollar gold coins by painting them and reeding the edge. With the raised date on 1913 type1 the government thought a repeat would of some type would occur again since the date wore off quickly, or instantly if removed on purpose.
The problems with both nickels have nothing to do with each other. The problem with the liberty nickel when it was first introduced to the public only had a V Roman numeral. This resulted in a man named Josh Tatum gold plating them and passing them off as a five dollar gold piece. Liberty nickels we’re very similar to a five dollar gold piece which circulated freely at that time. Eventually Mr. Tatum was arrested and charged however he was deaf and dumb. He never claimed that the nickel was a five dollar goal piece. He just handed it and received the change for merchants who didn’t notice the difference. As a result the change occurred in the first year of the liberty nickel to make it a nickel.
I have one in my collection also ..I knew the values were rising on these coins and wanted to get one before they're unaffordable.
I was away from collecting for 10 to 12 years, and I checked prices of these on ebay. I should have bought 15 or 20 of these back then, If I had my avatar might be a picture of my front yard. Atter reading about Mr. Tatum I probably wouldn't remember about him had it not been for his handicaps, and the fact he got away with this if I remember correctly. But others were also doing the same thing.
For a long time, I've had a small inclination of searching for a four legged example of the three legged Buffalo Nickel. Better yet a four legged example exhibiting the clash. I wonder what the value of these would be.
The die clash that caused the reverse die to be removed from coin production and polished before being placed back into coin production as the three legged reverse.
