Buffalo Nickel Series Guide: Key Dates & What’s It Worth?

The Buffalo nickel (1913–1938) is America’s most sculptural five-cent piece — and its famous varieties, from the 1918/7-D overdate to the three-legged 1937-D, can each cost more than a complete set of regular issues.

Series history

Designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser, the Buffalo nickel shows a composite Native American portrait — modeled from three life models — and Black Diamond, a bison from the New York Zoo, on the reverse (Stack’s Bowers).
Struck 1913–1938, the series came in two types: the 1913 Type 1 with the bison on a raised mound, quickly changed to Type 2 with the denomination recessed, because the raised mound wore down too fast (Stack’s Bowers).
The date sits on a raised point of the design and wears away quickly — most Buffalo nickels found in circulation by the 1960s were dateless (Stack’s Bowers).
Total business-strike production was about 1.17 billion pieces across Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco (Stack’s Bowers).
No nickels were struck in 1922; after the 25-year design term expired, the Jefferson nickel replaced the Buffalo in 1938 (Liberty Coin Service checklist; NM Estate Auctions).

Key dates

1913-S Type 2 Buffalo Nickel — the scarcest of the six 1913 issues and a first-year key.
1918/7-D Buffalo Nickel — the series’ only overdate; scarce in all grades, with Uncirculated examples major rarities (Stack’s Bowers).
1921-S Buffalo Nickel — a low-mintage San Francisco key of the early 1920s (Dr. Sol Taylor).
1924-S Buffalo Nickel and 1926-S Buffalo Nickel — the toughest late-1920s branch-mint dates; PCGS guide figures put the 1926-S at $11,500 in MS63 (PCGS Price Guide).
1936-D 3-1/2 Legs Buffalo Nickel — an over-polished die variety missing part of the bison’s front leg; see also the famous 1937-D three-legged variety, struck from a similarly over-polished die (Liberty Coin Service checklist).
1916 doubled die — a sharply doubled date variety that ranks with the overdate as a series trophy (Stack’s Bowers).

What drives the premium

Varieties: the 1916 doubled die, 1918/7-D overdate, and 1937-D three-legged can each exceed the cost of a complete regular-issue set (Dr. Sol Taylor).
Date visibility: because the date wears off first, Buffalo nickels with full, sharp dates bring premiums over “dateless” or partial-date examples (Stack’s Bowers).
Strike: the hard copper-nickel alloy struck up weakly, especially at branch mints in the late 1910s and 1920s — sharp, fully detailed examples are worth more (Stack’s Bowers).
Grade: most regular issues are affordable in circulated grades, but Mint State examples of the scarcer dates (1913 issues, teens mintmarks, 1921-S, 1926-S, 1931-S) climb steeply (Dr. Sol Taylor; PCGS Price Guide).

Specifications

Composition: 75% copper, 25% nickel (Stack’s Bowers; PCGS)
Weight: 5.00 g (Stack’s Bowers; PCGS)
Diameter: 21.2 mm (Stack’s Bowers; PCGS)
Edge: plain (Stack’s Bowers; PCGS)
Designer: James Earle Fraser (Stack’s Bowers; PCGS)
Years: 1913–1938 (no 1922) (Stack’s Bowers; Liberty Coin Service checklist)
Mint marks: none (Philadelphia), D (Denver), S (San Francisco) — below FIVE CENTS on the reverse (BuffaloNickel.org)

Collector notes

Type 1 and Type 2 are both needed for a complete type set — the raised-mound 1913 is a one-year design (Stack’s Bowers).
Proofs exist for 1913 (both types), 1914–1916, and 1936–1937 — a separate specialty from the circulation issues (Liberty Coin Service checklist).
Branch-mint coins of the 1920s are often softly struck; don’t confuse weak strike with wear when grading.
The 1938-D is the final issue and the only 1938 Buffalo nickel — an affordable bookend for the set (PCGS Price Guide).
Denver and San Francisco struck Buffalo nickels in most years of the series; Philadelphia issues carry no mint mark, as was standard for the era (BuffaloNickel.org).