Indian Head nickel

The Indian Head nickel, also known as the Buffalo nickel, was an American nickel five-cent piece minted from 1913 to 1938. It was designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser.

Design history

The Liberty Head nickel design had been introduced in 1883 by Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber. In the early 1900s, President Theodore Roosevelt had embarked upon a campaign to change the designs of U.S. coinage, most of which had been designed by Barber. Roosevelt considered Barber's coinage ugly and preferred ancient Greek designs, which incorporated high relief. During his administration, Roosevelt had the old double eagle replaced with a new design by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, but most of the minor coinage was not altered. In 1911, Treasury Secretary Franklin MacVeagh, who had worked with Roosevelt in the past and agreed with his opinions on U.S. coinage design, hired James Earle Fraser to design a new nickel.

Fraser featured a profile of a Native American on the obverse of the coin, which was a composite portrait of three Native American chiefs: Iron Tail, Two Moons and John Big Tree. Big Tree's profile was used to create that portion of the portrait from the top of the forehead to the upper lip. [Chief John Big Tree appearance on CBS' "I've Got a Secret", December 11, 1961. Rebroadcast on Game Show Network and viewed January 29, 2008.] The "buffalo" portrayed on the reverse was an American Bison, possibly Black Diamond, from the Central Park Zoo.

Design changes

Soon after the Indian Head nickel went into circulation, it became apparent that the reverse design was problematic; the "FIVE CENTS" inscription, which was on a raised mound at the bottom of the reverse, was one of the highest spots on the coin, and thus wore away very quickly. As a result, the design was modified by Charles Barber during its first year of production. Barber removed the raised mound and lowered the relief of the inscription so that it would not wear away as quickly, along with other design changes [http://www.money.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=5694] . However, one problem that was not addressed was the placement of the date. Like "FIVE CENTS" in the original design, the date was placed at a relief that exposed it to a great deal of wear. (A similar problem would later be seen on the Standing Liberty Quarter.) This issue was never definitively addressed by the Mint, so many Indian Head nickels have their dates partially or completely obliterated through extensive circulation.

A more radical, if unofficial, design change for the Indian Head nickel was the advent of the hobo nickel. Enterprising artists would scrape away the original obverse and modify the Native American, his headdress, or the background to create a completely original work of art. Even more ambitious efforts completely eliminated the original design save a few key features (usually the date).

An interesting design variety was produced in 1937 (one year before the production of these nickels was stopped)-the 1937-D "3-Legged" buffalo nickel. The buffalo's right foreleg is gone on this rare error. This was produced when the leg was accidentally ground off in the process of removing marks from the die. In uncirculated condition this coin is worth a significant amount of money. Some normal buffalo nickels have had the front leg ground down as an attempt to mimic the more valuable die error, but these can be distinguished by other features present on the "3-Legged" buffalo nickel.

Circulation status

Most Buffalo nickels were removed from circulation in the 1950s and 1960s in various degrees of wear, although it wasn't uncommon with diligent searching to find one as late as the early 1980s. Today, any talk of a Buffalo Nickel showing up in circulation is notable, as approximately 1 in 25,000 nickels in circulation today is a Buffalo Nickel. Many of these have the date completely worn off.

Mint marks

Indian Head nickels were minted at the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco mints and either have a 'D', 'S', or no mint mark on the reverse of the coin below the words FIVE CENTS.

ee also

*American Buffalo, a recently introduced gold coin which has a very similar design.
*The Nickel Trophy is an oversized Indian Head nickel awarded to winners of the (now defunct) annual football game between the North Dakota State Bison and the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux.

References

Bibliography

*Annette R. Cohen & Ray M. Druley. "The Buffalo Nickel". Arlington VA: Potomac Enterprises, 1979
*Bill Fivaz. "Reverse Carvings on Buffalo Nickels". "Nickel News", Winter 1987
*Kevin Flynn, et al. "The Authoritative Reference on Buffalo Nickels". Zyrus Press, 2007
*David W. Lange. "The Complete Guide to Buffalo Nickels". 2nd ed. Virginia Beach: DLRC Press, 2000
*Delma K. Romines. "Hobo Nickels". Newberry Park, CA: Lonesome John Publishing Co., 1982
*Robert R. Van Ryzin. "Which Indian Really Modeled?" "Numismatic News", February 6, 1990
*Michael Wescott with Kendall Keck. "The United States Nickel Five-Cent Piece: History and Date-by-Date Analysis". Wolfeboro, NH: Bowers & Merena, 1991

External links

* [http://www.coincommunity.com/us_coin_links/us_nickels_buffalo.asp Complete US Buffalo (Indian Head) Nickel information by year and type.] Histories, photos, grading, mintages, mints, diameters, weights, metal contents, edge designs, designers, and more.
* [http://www.uscoinfacts.com/coins/minor-coinage/1913-38-Nickel-Five-Cents-Buffalo.aspx Buffalo Nickels at US Coin Facts] Information about the Buffalo Nickel for both the collector and the investor.
* [http://www.coinpage.com/buffalo%20nickel-pictures.html Buffalo Nickel pictures]