History of the Buffalo Nickel
James Earle Fraser’s Buffalo nickel is often called the most American coin ever made: a composite Native American portrait on one side and Black Diamond the bison on the other. Struck from 1913 to 1938, it is beautiful and famously impractical — the date sat on a raised area that wore away first.
That design flaw shapes today’s market. Millions of surviving Buffalo nickels are dateless and worth little, while the same coins with readable dates carry real premiums, and key dates like the 1926-S in high grade bring thousands.
The Buffalo nickel was struck from 1913 to 1938 in copper-nickel (75% copper, 25% nickel). The design is the work of James Earle Fraser. Each coin weighs 5.00 grams and measures 21.2 mm across. Production took place at Philadelphia, Denver (D) and San Francisco (S).
How much is a Buffalo nickel worth?
Condition drives everything in numismatics. A heavily worn Buffalo nickel and a pristine one can differ in price by a factor of ten or more, so treat the figures below as broad retail ranges for problem-free coins rather than fixed quotes.
Printed price guides age quickly. The most honest benchmark is what comparable coins actually sold for, which is why CoinVault Pro shows live values built on Numista catalog data and real eBay sold results whenever it identifies a coin.
- Dateless: $0.25–$0.75
- Common dates, Good: $1–$3
- Common dates, XF: $8–$25
- MS-63 common dates: $35–$60
- Key dates (1913-S Type 2, 1926-S): $150–$4,000+
Key dates, mint marks and varieties
The difference between a common coin and a four-figure rarity is often a single letter or a doubled die. These are the Buffalo nickel varieties and dates worth checking for:
- 1937-D Three-Legged — polishing removed the bison’s foreleg.
- 1918/7-D overdate — a wartime rarity worth four figures even worn.
- 1916 Doubled Die Obverse — dramatic doubling on the date.
- 1913-S Type 2 — the low-mintage key of the first year.
How to identify a genuine Buffalo Nickel
Before you get excited about a potential find, confirm that the coin in your hand matches the genuine article. Work through this checklist:
When a coin fails any of these checks, treat it with suspicion. Modern counterfeits can be convincing at arm's length, but weight, dimensions and die details rarely lie.
- Type 1 (1913 only) shows the bison on a raised mound; Type 2 has the denomination recessed below a plain line.
- The mint mark sits on the reverse under FIVE CENTS.
- Acid-restored dates identify the coin but destroy collector value — restored-date coins trade near dateless prices.
- The full horn on the bison is the classic grading checkpoint for Fine and better.
Check your Buffalo nickel with CoinVault Pro
The fastest way to find out what you have is to photograph the coin with CoinVault Pro. The app identifies it using Gemini AI combined with Coin-CLIP image matching, estimates a grade on the full Sheldon 1–70 scale, and shows live market values built on Numista catalog data and real eBay sold prices.
From there you can add the coin to your collection, track its value over time, put upgrades on your wishlist, or list it on the in-app marketplace with escrow protection. The app is free to download on iOS and Android.