Collecting Buffalo Nickels
MY LIFE AS A COIN COLLECTOR began in the mid-1950s, at a time when it was quite possible to find “good” coins in circulation. Although I started with the Lincoln cent, one of my favorite coins was the Buffalo nickel.
If you think about it, the Buffalo nickel has a lot going for it. For one thing, the obverse features a real Native American, not a figure of Liberty wearing an Indian headdress like the Indian Head cent. In addition, the reverse boasts an iconic animal, the buffalo. This was a magnificent animal almost hunted to extinction by Americans in the West. According to Wikipedia, fewer than 100 remained by the latter part of the 1800s.
In addition to the wonderful design by James Earle Fraser, the Buffalo series is a fine one to collect. The coins were minted from 1913 to 1938, and they were generally made in sufficient quantities so that there are none of the great stoppers you find in some other series.
That is, each of the 64 date/mintmark combinations can be found in a decent grade that won’t cost you an arm and a leg. Even the keys to the series are not outrageously
