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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TexasJarhead, post: 1348283, member: 9141&quot;]<b>Buffalo Nickels and their strikes</b></p><p><br /></p><p>The Buffalo Nickel is an iconic American series that was the workhorse of its day.&nbsp; Presidents Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover &amp; Roosevelt presided over the country while this nickel was in service; the Philadelphia Athletics beat the New York Giants in the World Series; and young children could take this Nickel and buy a box of Cracker Jacks, which debuted in 1913.</p><p><br /></p><p>A new design was authorized and artists commenced submitting their designs for the new Nickel.&nbsp; A design by James Earl Fraser was selected.&nbsp; The new design reflected an ideal of the American West with the iconic Native American on the Obverse and the North American Bison on the Reverse.</p><p><br /></p><p>The key to collecting in the Buffalo Nickel series is to select coins based on their details.&nbsp; Mr Q. David Bowers, in his “A Guide Book of Buffalo &amp; Jefferson Nickels”, delineates four types of strikes. Weak Detail, Typical Detail, Strong Detail &amp; Full Detail strikes. I consider strike above grade when I am looking at a new coin.&nbsp; I have chosen Typical Details struck MS-64 coins over Weak Details struck MS-65’s many times.&nbsp; This series is rife with dates that are struck with weak strikes and you’ll pay a premium for a Strong or Full Details coin.&nbsp; It is advisable to stay away from Weak Details struck coins; unless, you are going after one of the Key Date or Semi-Key Date coins.&nbsp; In those instances, you’ll have to do what your budget will allow.&nbsp; You will probably not see many Full Detail circulated coins.&nbsp; These are rare and come at a huge premium.&nbsp; Only the Proof coins come with Full Details out of the mint.</p><p><br /></p><p>Below are coins from my collection that best approximate the Weak Detail, Typical Detail &amp; Strong Detail coins.&nbsp; The Strong Details 1926 is the closest I have to a Full Details coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>This 1925 Denver minted Nickel is considered a Weak Details strike.&nbsp; Notice that the date &amp; “Liberty” bleed in to the rim and the hair is less defined on the Obverse.&nbsp; On the Reverse, there is absolutely no hair on the Bison’s shoulder above the left leg.&nbsp; The mint mark and “Five Cents” also look flat and the Bison’s horn doesn’t have much of a point on it. The whole front left leg is simply flat.&nbsp; This coin isn’t slabbed but was graded by a prestigious coin dealer at AU-58 and I’ve seen many slabbed AU-58’s that look the same.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH]156059.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]156060.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>This 1914 Philadelphia coin is graded MS-65 by NGC.&nbsp; I consider this a Typical Details strike.&nbsp; Notice that on the Obverse that none of the letters bleed in to the rim and that there is a little more definition to the hair.&nbsp; Also, the date stands out fully.&nbsp; On the Reverse, the “Five Cents” is full and you can see tufts of hair on the Bison’s shoulder.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH]156061.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]156062.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>This 1926 Philadelphia issue is graded MS-65 by ANACS.&nbsp; This is the closest I have to a Strong Details strike. Due to a 5 image upload limit, I am showing the Reverse of this coins. Trust me, all details on the Obverse are bold.&nbsp; On the Reverse, there is full hair definition on the front left shoulder and hair details are even visible on the bottom of the front left leg.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH]156064.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The vast majority of my coins are Typical Details coins with a couple of Weak Details and the one Strong Details coin above.</p><p><br /></p><p>I do not own any Full Details coins.&nbsp; I have not come across any circulation Full Details coins that I could afford nor do I own any proofs.&nbsp; To get an idea of what a Full Details Buffalo Nickel looks like, take a look any Proof issue.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have been collecting these for 5 years now.&nbsp; Started building an AU raw set and then started an NGC Registry set.&nbsp; I still have an extremely hard time determining the difference between wear and strike deficiencies on these coins.&nbsp; They are extremely hard to grade (in my opinion).&nbsp; I have utilized the expertise of a couple of dealers to build my sets.&nbsp; The only coins I buy on my own, are the inexpensive ones.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>If one is going to get involved in collecting this series, there are two books that I highly recommend.&nbsp; The first one is mentioned above and is Mr. Q. David Bowers’ “A Guide Book of Buffalo &amp; Jefferson Nickels.&nbsp; The second is Mr. David W. Lange’s “The Complete Guide to Buffalo Nickels”.</p><p><br /></p><p>Comments welcome.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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