We are excited to release the forty fifth coin in the CollecTons Keepers program, an exclusive series only offered by CollecTons. The forty fifth coin we present, CollecTons Keeper #45 in the Series features the rare 1913 Type I Buffalo Nickel.
What makes this coin a Coin Worth Keeping?
The Buffalo Nickel, also known as the Indian Head nickel, was struck by the U.S. Mint from 1913 to 1938. It was designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser in 1912. The obverse features a portrait of a Native American and the reverse features an American bison, also known as a buffalo.
There was a push to create more beautiful U.S. coinage and five of the circulating coins were redesigned between 1907 and 1909. The Taft administration decided to continue the trend and in 1911 elected to replace the Liberty Head Nickel. Fraser submitted some designs and the administration was impressed with his depictions of a Native American and a Buffalo. The designs were quickly approved but the production was delayed due to objections from the Hobbs Manufacturing Company. The company produced mechanisms which detected counterfeit nickels (slugs) in vending machines, and they argued that the changes would put an undo burden upon themselves to redesign their hardware. Fraser set out to modify the designs in order to appease them, however they never fully approved of the new nickel. In February of 1913, Treasury Secretary Franklin MacVeagh ceased all discussion of the issue and approved the coins' production despite protests from Hobbs.
The coin was problematic from the very beginning. Charles Barber, who was responsible for supplying all three working mints with dies, found that the new design was wearing out the dies at a rate of up to three times faster than the previous nickel. He and his department were having trouble producing enough new dies to meet the production demands. Additionally, the date and the denominations tended to wear quickly. The 1913 Type I Buffalo nickel was replaced by the 1913 Type II Buffalo nickel. On the type II nickel, the ground that the buffalo stands upon was flattened and the size of the denomination was increased. Over time the thickness of the numerals specifying the date were increased. Despite all of this, Barber found that the life of the dies actually decreased.
U.S. law specified that all coin designs must stay in production for at least 25 years. After the Buffalo nickel had been produced for 25 years, it was replaced with the Jefferson Nickel design with virtually no discussion or protest.
The 1913 Type I Buffalo Nickel is a highly sought after coin and one that every coin collector should have in their collection.
Coin Specifications
Year: 1913
Mint: Philladelphia
Finish: Circulated
Mintage: 30,992,000
Composition: 0.250 Nickel, 0.750 Copper
Weight: 5 grams
Diameter: 21.2 mm
Edge: Plain
What makes the CollecTons Keepers program special? Here at CollecTons, we work hard researching coins that should be part of every collection. Our goal is to utilize our knowledge in the numismatic industry to select coins worthy of being in everyone's collection! Therefore, the CollecTons Keepers program will only feature those Coins Worth Keeping.
Each coin is hand selected and given to ANACS (America's Oldest Grading Service) for grading and authentication. The coins are then sealed in an ANACs certified proprietary slab holder for long-term storage, with our limited edition label marking it a CollecTons Keeper. Collect one or collect the entire series!
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