Collecting Buffalo Nickels began on February 22, 1913, the first day they went in circulation. President Taft was present at the inauguration at Fort Wadsworth in New York. The first Buffalo Nickels were given out at this ceremony celebrating the American Indian.

Besides the Buffalo Nickel, Fraser also did "The End of the Trail" sculpture. This popular sculpture shows a hopelessly weary Indian with his head hanging down. The horse is even more worn out with his head even hanging closer to the ground. Many other artists at the time cashed in on this sculpture by making shadow pictures and prints of this weary pair. According to Fraser, his inspiration for the sculpture came from a line in a book by Marion Manvill Pope.

"The trail is lost, the path is hid and the winds blow from out the ages and sweep me on the chill borderline where time's spent sands engulf lost peoples and lost trails."

Laura, his wife and James also designed and created the 1926 .50 cent commemorative coin "The Oregon Trail".

The first Indian Head/Buffalo Nickel was struck on February 21st at the Philadelphia Mint, the last one to be struck was the Denver, Colorado Mint on April 9, 1938.

For those interested in numbers, from 1913 to 1938 - 1,212,916,248 Indian Head Nickels were struck, giving over 60 million dollars worth of nickels made in 25 years. However, none were minted in 1922, 1932, and 1933.

Buffalo Nickels that were minted at Philadelphia and have no mint mark. Those minted in San Francisco have an "S" mint mark. Nickels minted at Denver have a "D" mint mark. Both the "S" and "D" mint marks are under the five cents on the reverse (back) of the coins.

During the first year of minting (1913) the reverse of the Buffalo Nickel was changed to facilitate production and increase die life. This caused 2 types of nickels, Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 has the Buffalo standing on raised ground and Type 2 has the buffalo standing on a straight line.

The Type 2 Buffalo Nickel was minted from the later part of 1913 to 1938 and the last Buffalo Nickel was struck in Denver on April 9, 1938. No Buffalo Nickel collection is complete without the Type 1 1913 strike.

Matté Proof Buffalo Nickels were minted in 1913, 1914, 1915, and 1916. A few matté proofs were passed out in 1917 to political types and contributors to politicians of the day. But none were passed out or sold to the general public.

During 1936 and 1937, highly polished proofs were minted and issued with the 1936 and 1937 proof sets. Now (1998) a 1936 and 1937 proof nickel sells in the $1000 range, when you can find one.

In 1936, 4,420 proofs were minted and in 1937 5,769 were minted. It's doubtful if more than 10% have survived up to the present time.

In 1913, 1,514 Type 2 Matté Proofs were minted and these sell in the $900 to $1400 range depending on the grade.

During 1914, 1,275 MattéProofs were minted and now sell in the $700 to $1500 range, again depending on the grade.

In 1915, 1,050 Matté Proofs were minted and now sell in the $900 to $1500 range, depending on the grade.

In 1916 only 600 were minted and sell from $1500 to $2500 range depending on the grade.

During 1914 a 4 over 3 was produced but there are no numbers. During 1916 a double die obverse was created and sells for around $2000 in good condition to over $40,000 in MS63 condition (this is a "P" mint coin).

In 1918 mint errors with a 7 over 8 was produced and sells from $400 in good condition to over $30,000 in MS63 condition.

Again in 1935 a "P" mint double die coin was produced and presently sells in good condition for $75 and $1800 in MS63.

In 1938 a D over S was produced and sells from $10.00 in good condition up to $100.00 in MS63.

In 1937 at the Denver Mint the famous 3 or 3 1/2 legged Buffalo Nickel came into being. This came about by extending die life beyond the practical limits. As dies become worn they become pitted, damaged, filled with foreign matter and have field surface abrasions. The mint's solution is to grind down the surface of the die and remove all the damage and then repolish the die and put it back in service. After several of these treatments many of the small details in the dies begin to disappear as they are simply ground and polished out of existence. What happened to the shallow die incursion on the 3rd leg was that it was ground out of incursion portion of the die.

A used 3-legged Buffalo coin sells for $300 to $1000 depending on the condition. The sky's the limit on an MS coin. An MS63 coin will run in the range of $3000 to $3500 at this time (1998).

From 1913 to 1938 over 1.2 billion (1,212,916,248) were minted, this amounts to $60,645,812.40, in other words over 60 million dollars worth.

The Buffalo Nickel is composed of 25% nickel and 75% copper.

The coin weighs 5 grams and is 21.2 millimeters in diameter (across).

There are 64 coins in a complete set, this figure does not include proofs and mint errors. There are 6 proof coins, and 7 recognized mint errors and of course, there is always other mint errors, such as clipped planchet, blank planchets, half struck coins and other types of errors too numerous to mention in the article.

A year date set only consists of 23 coins and is still inexpensive to assemble in lower grade coins.

A complete set including proofs and recognized mint errors is 77 coins, plus any special errors.

The lowest mintage coin is the 1926 "S" with only 970,000 coins. A 26S in good condition will cost you $6.00 to $10.00 and an MS63 can run as much as $5,000 (1998).

Indian Head Pennies and Indian Head Nickels was a truly fascinating area of numismatics. Collecting Buffalo Nickels has been on the upsurge in the last 5 years. The prices we see today in all grades will undoubtedly double or triple over the next 5 or 6 years. In the last 10 years rolls of common date Buffalo Nickels (good to very good) has raised from $4.00 a roll to $26.00 a roll and the 1937P has had the price appreciation. Locating and finding pre-1926 coins in any number and in any grade gets tougher every year as a new generation begins to see the high art of our older coins.

Click here for U.S. Coins - World Coins - Ancient Coins - U.S. Banknotes - World Banknotes - Bullion - Antique Stocks - Tokens & Medals - Coin Jewelry - Coin Books - Coin Albums - Coin Supplies - Other Collectibles.

Click here to see New Additions Newsletter - Discount Coin Club - Mailing List - Home Page - Site Map.