What counts as Buffalo nickels?
The Buffalo (or Indian Head) nickel, designed by James Earle Fraser, ran from 1913 to 1938. Its great flaw is also its identification headache: the date sits on a raised area of the Native American portrait and wears away quickly, which is why so many survivors are dateless. The 1913 issue exists in two types — Type 1 with FIVE CENTS on a raised mound, Type 2 with the value recessed below a line — and the series includes famous varieties like the 1918/7-D overdate and the 1937-D three-legged buffalo.
Step-by-step: identifying Buffalo nickels
Work through these checks in order. Each one eliminates possibilities, and together they identify the large majority of Buffalo nickels without any special equipment:
- Look for the date on the lower obverse, on the raised shoulder area of the portrait — and tilt the coin under strong light, since a partial ghost date may survive.
- Find the mint mark on the reverse below FIVE CENTS: none for Philadelphia, D for Denver, S for San Francisco.
- Classify 1913 coins: Type 1 shows FIVE CENTS on a raised mound, Type 2 (mid-1913 onward) recesses it below a straight line.
- Check the famous varieties: the 1918/7-D overdate and the 1937-D three-legged buffalo, whose missing front leg must match certified diagnostics exactly.
- For dateless coins, know the acid option: ferric chloride (Nic-A-Date) can raise a ghost of the date, but it permanently etches the coin and marks it as a problem piece.
- Weigh when suspicious: a genuine Buffalo nickel is 5.00 g of copper-nickel.
Are Buffalo nickels valuable?
Common dated circulated Buffaloes bring $1–3, dateless ones 25–50 cents (they remain popular as hobo-nickel carving stock). The stars are strong: the 1937-D three-legged brings several hundred dollars even heavily worn, the 1918/7-D overdate climbs into the thousands, and key S-mint dates of the 1920s carry solid premiums in any collectible grade.
As always in numismatics, condition is king and rarity is queen. Before settling on a value, check what comparable pieces actually sold for recently; asking prices and dated guidebooks both mislead. CoinVault Pro surfaces real eBay sold prices alongside Numista catalog data so you can read the current market at a glance.
Common pitfalls and fakes
Experienced collectors get burned less often because they check for these problems first:
- Acid-restored dates sold without disclosure: the etched patch is permanent and the coin is priced as damaged.
- Fake three-legged buffaloes made by shaving the leg off a normal 1937-D — genuine examples match specific die markers.
- Assuming dateless means worthless: some varieties remain attributable, and carvers pay for hosts.
- Cleaning and polishing, which flattens the matte luster this design depends on.
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