RARE Buffalo Nickel Types – Differences in TYPE 1 & TYPE 2 Buffalo nickels. Plus the RAREST Buffalo nickels to look for!
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, this is Josh with The Fun Times Guide and I’m here to talk a bit about Buffalo nickels today.
Now, Buffalo nickels were designed by James Earle Fraser and struck from 1913 through 1938. They have on the obverse a depiction of a Native American chief and on the reverse an American bison or Buffalo.
There are 2 kinds of Buffalo nickels. I’ve got both kinds actually here.
This one on the left is a 1913 Type 1. And on a Type 1, the Bison stands on a mound. You see right there. (And no, I’m not drawing on the coin… don’t worry.)
On a Type 2, struck from late 1913 through 1938, the bison stands on a line.
Now why was this change made?
Well, if you look carefully… The words or inscription ‘five cents’ is actually very proud on the coin (or stands up from the surface). Whereas on this Variety II piece here, you’ll see that the ‘five cents’ inscription is recessed. So what happens is on the Type 1, the ‘five cents’ inscription wears off very quickly in circulation. Whereas on the Type 2, the words ‘five cents’ are protected by the Bison and the rim. So what happened was… as these Type 1 coins started to wear down, the Mint officials noticed, “Well gee wiz, before long you won’t know if this is a 5-cent coin or what. There’ll be no legal description on the coin to describe exactly what it’s worth — what its face value is. So the decision was made to recess the words ‘5 cents’. That decision was not made on the date though.
A lot of people find so-called dateless Buffalo nickels. Both of these coins have their dates on them. But you’ll find that many times the date is totally worn away — that’s because of fans on the shoulder of the Native American chief. That’s a very vulnerable spot for wear. A lot of folks ask about who this Native American actually is. According to James Earle Fraser, he said it’s actually the composite of at least 3 different native Chiefs that he sketched. These include Big Tree, Iron Tail, and Two Moons. As for the Bison on the reverse… it’s basically a likeness of a very popular American bison named Black Diamond, who resided at the New York Central Park Zoo back when Fraser was designing the Buffalo nickel. A lot of folks ask about “What are the rarest Buffalo nickels?”
As far as, you know, which ones are really worth keeping? There are a few answers to that. The most popular
rarity is the 1937 Denver 3-legged Buffalo nickel — which I don’t have a version here to show you (an
example to show you). But in the case of the 3-legged Buffalo nickel, the front leg is missing from the Bison. That error happened because there was some die damage to the die that struck these coins and so a Mint official wore away (or polished away) some of the damage done to the die, and in the process inadvertently wore way part of the front leg (the foreleg). So on those coins you’ll see 3… basically 3 distinct legs and no foreleg. One common die attribute that you can look for on those coins is a little die break that extends from the bottom of the bison down to the ground.
Other rarities include the 1913-S Variety II, 1913-D Variety II, 1914-D, and 1921-S. A couple other errors to look for are the 1914 four over three, 1916 doubled die, and 1918-D eight over seven. Those are all worth hundreds and even thousands of dollars — so they’re definitely worth looking for in pocket change, or at estates, in collections and such.
I hope you found this video interesting on the top facts and most interesting stats behind the Buffalo nickel. And thank you for watching this video. Again, this is Josh with The Fun Times Guide. Take care!
