The Buffalo Nickel is one of America's most distinctive coins ever minted. It is considered by many as a work of art with its dominating Great Plains images - the American Indian on its obverse and the Buffalo on the reverse. Because of its great beauty the Buffalo Nickel has become a particular favorite with coin collectors.
The Buffalo Nickel was minted just prior to World War I to just before World War II 1913-38. It traces its origins to an obscure law concerning when a coin design could be changed. Charles Barber's uninspired Liberty Head nickel had been in production since 1883. Under the Coinage Act of 1890, a change in the its design was permitted after 25 years. Secretary of the Treasury Franklin MacVeagh, originally a Roosevelt appointee, wasn't about to pass up the opportunity. Reminded by his son in a letter dated May, 1911 that a new nickel would be "A permanent souvenir of the most attractive sort," MacVeagh, pointedly bypassing the competent but mediocre Barber, started the process for a new design.
The Buffalo Nickel became a reality less than two years later. On March 4, 1913, coins from the first bag to go into circulation were presented to outgoing President Taft and 33 Indian chiefs at the groundbreaking ceremonies for the National Memorial to the North American Indian at Fort Wadsworth, New York.
James Earle Fraser, a former assistant to Saint-Gaudens and a prolific artist best known for his monumental "End of the Trail" Indian sculpture, created a truly unique design for the new coin. Up until that time, except for Bela Lyon Pratt's quarter and half eagle of 1908, the "Indians" portrayed on U.S. coins were primarily Caucasian with an Indian headdress. Fraser's design accurately portrays a male Native American, that is a composite of three chiefs who had posed for him years earlier. Keeping with the distinctly American theme, he depicted an American bison on the reverse.
The inscriptions "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" and "E PLURIBUS UNUM" are artfully placed over the buffalo, with the denomination "FIVE CENTS" below. The legend "LIBERTY" and the date are similarly well executed on the coin's obverse. The motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" is discretely missing from the Buffalo Nickel. An Act of Congress on April 22, 1864 allowed the "IN GOD WE TRUST" motto on United States coins. Later after the motto was omitted from the Liberty Nickel and some Gold Coins in 1907, another May 18, 1908 Act of Congress clarified the requirement. It was made mandatory on all coins upon which it had previously appeared, and it was not mandatory on the and . However, it could be placed on them by the Mint Secretary or the Mint Director with the Secretary's approval. So, the motto was left off the Buffalo Nickel and then reappeared in 1938 on the Jefferson Nickel. Since 1938, all United States coins bear the inscription.
Fraser's design was medal-like and beautiful, and for that reason was favored by Secretary MacVeagh. Its allure seemed to completely elude Barber, who complained that the design elements were too large and didn't allow for the proper placement of inscriptions. Barber didn't get very far with this, as the design remained unchanged over his objections.
Reservations also came from the vending machine industry, whose devices were designed primarily for accepting cents and nickels. Particularly persistent was the Hobbs Manufacturing Company, which marketed a machine for detecting counterfeit coins. Mr. Hobbs was certain that Fraser's design would not work in his mechanism, and he asked that significant changes be made to the models. After much wrangling over this, Secretary MacVeagh instructed the Mint to proceed with the original design and let the vending machine companies adapt their mechanisms to the coin.
Over 1.2 billion Buffalo Nickels were minted from 1913 through 1938 at the three mints; Philadelphia (no mintmark), San Francisco (S), and Denver (D). The mintmark can be found on the reverse under the denomination, while the designer's initial "F" is below the date.
There were two major type designs made. Type 1 nickels, minted only during the first few months of 1913, had the denomination FIVE CENTS on a raised mound. As early as April, rapid wear in this area became evident on the coins in circulation, so Barber finally got his chance to modify Fraser's design. He cut away the mound, creating an exergue into which the denomination was set. This solved the reverse wear problem, but then he kept going. He smoothed out much of the detail and granularity in both the Indian's portrait and the bison's hide. The resulting Type 2, however, lacked much of the artistic impact of the original.
Barber again made minor type design change in 1916, and some specialists consider this a third subtype, but most type collectors only consider the Type 1 and 2 coins as actual varieties. It is strange that during all his modifications, Barber never addressed the problem of the date wearing down too rapidly.
No Buffalo nickels were made in 1922, 1932 and 1933. Some 5,967 matte proofs were made from 1913 through 1916, and 10,189 brilliant proofs in 1936 and 1937. Strike was an inherent problem with this coin from the beginning, and many deceptively well struck business strikes have been mistaken for the matte proofs and vice versa. Many mint marked coins, especially from 1918 through 1934, are virtually unavailable well struck.
By the end of 1937 planning for the Buffalo Nickel's successor was well under way, as the 25 year design would end the following year. It was to be replaced by the third coin to bear a likeness of one of our presidents, Thomas Jefferson. The Jefferson Nickel continues in production to this day.
That is the history of the Buffalo Nickel, but Buffalo Nickel collecting has its own history.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Diameter: 21.2 millimeters Weight: 5 grams Composition: .750 copper, .250 nickel Edge: Plain
|
