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Buffalo nickels: the bison, the missing horn, and the dates that matter
Buffalo nickels (1913–1938) are copper-nickel, not silver. Most worn dates are a few dollars. 1913 Type 1 vs Type 2, the 1937-D three-leg, and a short list of mint-marked dates are the ones we actually stop for.
A Buffalo nickel (Indian Head nickel) is the five-cent piece with a Native American on the front and an American bison on the back, struck 1913 through 1938. James Earle Fraser designed it. It is copper-nickel. There is no silver in it. 90% vs 40% vs war nickels.
People bring a coffee can of them and expect Morgan-dollar money. Worn common dates are a collector few dollars, not melt. The melt in a Buffalo is a few cents of nickel and copper.
Type 1, Type 2, and where the mint mark is
1913 Type 1 has FIVE CENTS on a raised mound. The mound wore off in change, so later in 1913 they recessed the words (Type 2). Both 1913 types exist from Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco.
The mint mark is on the reverse, under FIVE CENTS. No letter is Philadelphia. Where is the mint mark?
Common vs the ones we pull
Common worn 1916–1930s Buffalos: a couple of dollars each in a shop buy, more if the horn is still there. Dates we actually take out of the junk bowl: 1913-S Type 2, 1914-D, 1918/7-D overdate, 1921-S, 1924-S, 1926-S, and the famous 1937-D three-legged. The three-leg is a die-polish error. Fakes are common. We look at the leg, the hoof, and the rest of the die markers — not a Facebook photo. Error-coin hype. How shops check authenticity.
A longer list lives on the Buffalo key-date sheet.
Extra history
Fraser used three different Native models for the portrait (Iron Tail, Two Moons, and Big Tree is the usual story). The bison is usually called Black Diamond, a New York zoo animal. The design is the same family as the later Standing Liberty look: early-1900s “American” art on everyday change.
Dateless Buffalos are a pile of their own. Once LIBERTY and the date are gone, it is a novelty nickel.
What a shop pays
Dateless or wrecked: a few cents, or we toss them in the kids bowl. Readable common dates: a small collector bid. Problem-free keys and a real three-leg: a real number. Do not clean the horn back on with a tool. Don’t clean.
People also ask
Are Buffalo nickels silver? No. Copper-nickel. War nickels (1942–1945 Jefferson, big mint mark on the reverse) are the silver five-cent pieces.
Is a 1937-D always the three-leg? No. Most 1937-D Buffalos have four legs. The three-leg is the scarce variety.
Is 1938-D a key? It is the last year and a short San Francisco-free issue from Denver. Better than a common 1936. Not a 1918/7-D.