Quick summary
- Buffalo nickels were struck from 1913 to 1938, and the raised date wore flat faster than any other part of the design, which is why many surviving coins have no readable date.
- A missing mint mark is normal on Philadelphia coins, not an error. The mark, when present, sits on the reverse below FIVE CENTS.
- Cleaning a dark nickel destroys originality and cannot bring back a date that wear already removed.
- Genuine 1937-D Three-Legged nickels are valuable, but altered and counterfeit examples are common, so professional authentication matters.
- Typical 1937 nickels list at $10 in AU 50 and $20 in MS 60, while the Three-Legged variety runs from $1,000 in AU 50 to $110,000 in MS 67.
Buffalo nickels turn up in inherited jars, old folders and junk drawers more often than almost any other classic US coin. The design is a favorite, and that popularity breeds myths. People overvalue dateless coins, scrub original surfaces chasing a readable date, and assume any nickel with a faint leg is a small fortune. Here are the mistakes we see most often, along with what to check instead.
The Design, and Why Dates Disappeared So Fast
Mint Director Frank Leach commissioned sculptor James Earle Fraser to design the new five-cent piece in 1911, and production began in February 1913. The obverse shows a composite portrait drawn from three Native American chiefs who sat for Fraser: Iron Tail, Two Moons and Big Tree. The reverse shows an American bison, reportedly modeled on a bull named Black Diamond that lived at New York’s Central Park Zoo. Fraser later explained that he wanted something unmistakably American, a coin that could not be mistaken for the coinage of any other country.
The alloy is 75% copper and 25% nickel, the same blend used in modern nickels, and each coin weighs 5 grams. The series is officially called the Indian Head nickel, though most collectors just say Buffalo nickel.
The design had a built-in flaw. The date on the front and FIVE CENTS on the back both sat on the highest points of the design, and friction wore them away quickly. The Mint fixed half the problem in the spring of 1913 by recessing the denomination below the bison and flattening the ground line, creating the Type 2 reverse used on every Buffalo nickel from 1914 through 1938. The date was never redesigned. It stayed raised for the entire run, which is why so many surviving nickels have no readable date at all.
This matters when you sort a pile of nickels. The mint mark sits on the reverse, below FIVE CENTS, while the date is on the front. The two are separate parts of the design, so one can wear away while the other survives. A coin with no date at all may still show a clear D or S.
Mistake 1: Assuming Every Buffalo Nickel Is Valuable
The series ran from 1913 to 1938, struck at Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco, and was replaced by the Jefferson nickel after its minimum 25-year term. Large quantities circulated for decades, and age alone does not create value. A worn 1936 nickel from Philadelphia lists at about $2 to $4, and most common dates in circulated grades sell for similar sums.
What to do instead: judge each coin by four factors, meaning its date, the mint that struck it, whether it carries a recognized die variety, and how much wear it shows. A handful of dates and varieties carry serious premiums, such as the 1916 Doubled Die Obverse, which can bring $15,000 or more in Mint State, but those coins are the exceptions in a very common series.
One more trap cuts the other way. Plenty of coins struck at the branch mints in the 1910s and 1920s came from tired dies, and even examples that never saw circulation can look blurry and indistinct. Faint detail does not prove a coin circulated, and neither a soft strike nor heavy wear says anything on its own about rarity.
Mistake 2: Confusing Wear with a Missing Mint Mark
Some people treat a Buffalo nickel with no mint mark as an error or a rarity. In this series, no letter means Philadelphia, which struck Buffalo nickels throughout the run. It is the normal product of the main mint, not a mistake worth a premium.
What to do instead: look at the bottom of the reverse, under FIVE CENTS, for a small D or S. The mint mark and the date sit on opposite faces of the coin, so they wear at different rates. A nickel whose date has vanished can still carry a readable D or S, so examine both sides before setting it aside.
It also pays to look closely at the mark itself. Researchers have identified five overmintmark varieties on 1937 Buffalo nickels, including one S/S and three D/D types, where a mintmark punch landed on top of an earlier one and traces of the old letter survive. Sold examples in Mint State grades have brought between $59 and $188, so these are modest sums rather than fortunes, but they show why a close look with a loupe is worth the effort. Our guide to mistakes to avoid when reading mint marks covers this in more detail.
Mistake 3: Cleaning a Dark Nickel to Reveal the Date
A blackened, grimy Buffalo nickel looks like it is hiding something, and the obvious impulse is to scrub. Resist it. Cleaning removes metal from the surface, it does not restore detail that wear has already taken away. On most dateless nickels the date is gone because the raised digits wore flat, and no amount of polishing brings them back.
What to do instead: leave the surface alone. Graders treat cleaned coins as damaged, and a cleaned coin is worth less than an original one with the same wear. Porous surfaces and lost detail are the same red flags experts use to condemn counterfeits, so a scrubbed nickel can end up resembling something worse than a worn coin. Our article on why you should not clean your coins explains the damage and what safe handling looks like. If the dark tone bothers you, store the coin properly and let it be.
Mistake 4: Overestimating the Three-Legged Variety
The 1937-D Three-Legged Buffalo Nickel is the most famous key in the series, and the prices are real. Genuine examples sell for hundreds of dollars even in low circulated grades, reach $1,000 in About Uncirculated 50, and run from $2,200 in Mint State 60 to $110,000 in MS 67 on the NGC Price Guide. Two cautions keep most finds from cashing in.
First, the variety is scarcer than a common nickel but not as scarce as its reputation suggests. Close to 6,000 pieces have been certified across all grades. The leg vanished because a worn reverse die was ground down to stretch its working life, not because of any deliberate change, and the very dies that produced the three-legged coins also struck normal four-legged ones. That overlap is exactly the opening fakers use.
Second, fakes are common. Some are outright counterfeits, and others are ordinary four-legged 1937-D nickels with a leg tooled away. Genuine examples show ragged, eroded die wear behind the Native American’s neck, plus a row of tiny raised lumps from the die beneath the middle of the buffalo. Counterfeits often slip up on simpler checks, such as the designer’s F under the date or the flat tops that real date digits should have. Correct weight and metal content prove nothing, because a fake struck from the right alloy can match both.
Be careful
A 1937-D nickel with a missing leg is altered far more often than it is genuine. If you think you have found one, have it authenticated by a major grading service before you price it or sell it.
Mistake 5: Trusting Online Price Hype Over Sold Prices
Short videos and viral posts love the Buffalo nickel because it is familiar and old. The claims usually skip condition, mint mark and variety, which are the three things that actually set the price. Price guides come with limits of their own. The major guides blend figures from outside contributors and present them as averages rather than quotes for one specific coin. They are also revised on a schedule instead of continuously, so they can lag the market, and for scarce coins with only a handful of recorded sales that lag can be severe.
What to do instead: identify the exact coin first, then check a reputable guide for that date, mint mark, variety and grade, and compare against completed auction sales for that coin. A 1937 nickel shows the spread clearly.
| Coin | AU 50 | MS 60 | Top listed value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1937, 1937-D or 1937-S (four legs) | $10 | $20 | $8,000 in MS 68 (1937), $10,000 in MS 68 (1937-D) |
| 1937-D Three-Legged | $1,000 | $2,200 | $110,000 in MS 67 |
The gap between those rows is the whole point. A headline promising thousands for any old nickel is marketing, not a market.
How to Identify and Value Your Nickels Realistically
Work through an inherited pile in this order:
- Set aside any nickels with obvious damage, cleaning or corrosion.
- Check the reverse below FIVE CENTS for a mint mark: D for Denver, S for San Francisco, nothing for Philadelphia.
- Look for a date on the lower obverse. Dateless survivors are the most common kind, and most are worth only modest sums unless another feature stands out.
- Judge the grade honestly before checking any price, since condition moves values as much as rarity does.
- Set aside anything that looks like a variety, especially a 1937-D with a leg problem, and compare it against photos of genuine examples before you spend money on a valuation.
No 1937 proofs were made, so every 1937 nickel you find is a business strike, which simplifies the sorting. For a suspected Three-Legged nickel, professional authentication is the only reliable path, since altered coins are the rule rather than the exception. For nickels with odd surfaces that are not key dates, our article on error coins explained helps you separate real varieties from damage.
A jar of Buffalo nickels rarely contains a fortune, but sorting it properly takes an afternoon and tells you exactly what you have. Once the coins are identified and graded, our guide to selling a coin collection, including inherited coins, walks through the next steps.
Collector questions
Why do so many Buffalo nickels have no date?
The date stood proud of the field on the front of the coin, so friction flattened it before most other details. The Mint recessed the FIVE CENTS denomination in 1913 but never fixed the date, so dateless survivors are common.
Is a Buffalo nickel without a mint mark rare?
No. No letter means the coin was struck in Philadelphia, which made Buffalo nickels throughout the series. Check the reverse below FIVE CENTS for a D or S before assuming anything.
How do I tell if my Three-Legged nickel is real?
Genuine examples show ragged die wear behind the Native American’s neck and a row of tiny raised lumps struck below the buffalo. Because most fakes are altered ordinary nickels, professional authentication is the safe route.
Are Buffalo nickels made of silver?
No. They are 75% copper and 25% nickel, the same alloy as modern nickels, and weigh 5 grams. Their value comes from scarcity and condition, not precious metal.
Coin values change with demand, condition and metal prices. This guide is general information, not an appraisal or investment advice.
