Fun with/study of three legged buffaloes

coinguy1

A client of ours has consigned a small but neat group of (5) Three Legged Buffaloes to us, which offers an unusual opportunity to study and compare them. (Edited to be/sound nicer - these coins are posted for discussion purposes -please do not construe or consider this a solicitation or offer to sell any of them to board members - feel free to P.M. me for further specifics/details of our 22 page disclaimer, which we have prepared so that we don't get flamed for promoting our inventory here ).

Scott Schechter of Pinnacle has prepared what I think is a nice graphic and explanation of some of the differences between genuine and counterfeit examples. Here is a link :

Three Legged Buffalo Graphic


Here are links to the (5) coins noted above:


AU 50

MS 62

Another MS 62

MS 64

Really Pretty MS 64 !

Take a look, enjoy and feel free to give your opinions.

airplanenut

The "Really Pretty One is"

Those are all great looking coins... but the AU seems kinda dinged up... I like the MS66 I held

goose3

A FINE batch of buffs!!!!!
That last one has MICHAEL written all over it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes yes yes!!!!!!

nwcs

That last one is really awesome! How does it look in person?

darktone

Nice coins Mark, it must be really neat to have all five to look at! I have alway's thought it was kind of odd for a coin that had its dies polished enough to loose this much detail for it to carry such a large premium when most coins are collected for quality strikes from new dies. Don't get me wrong I would love to own one . mike

kranky

That's a pretty cool lineup of three-leggers.

I wasn't familiar with the diagnostic relating to the buffalo's beard. It's always great to learn something new.

The one MS62 example (the silvery one) looks nicer than the other one. What is holding the grade of that one down to a 62?

Wisconsin

Very interesting ... Glad to learn all the diagnostics!. It just shows that there are some very nice coins out there that have not yet been graded.

Jay

BNE

Number 1 has a really fair price, and is a very nice example for the money, I think.

Number 5, of course, is super-primo. I love that toning.

Thanks for the pictures and the education, Mark. This is one issue that I would not buy uncertified due to the multitude of fakes.

coinguy1

Jeremy - the AU one is "dinged up" because it has been circulated. We actually thought it was a 53 or a 55 but didn't think it was worth resubmitting.

Goose, you said

<< <i>That last one has MICHAEL written all over it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Yes yes yes!!!!!! >>



You left out "L.O.L"!

NWCS - in answer to your question, the last one looks even better in person. It is more vibrant/lustrous and the color is more dramatic.

Mike, I understand your point. You could say the same about 1922 plain Lincoln cents, among others.

Kranky, in answer to your question about what is holding the silvery MS62 back from a higher grade - if memory serves me correctly, it has a bit too much rub/friction for an MS63.

Jay and BNE - I'm glad you enjoyed this. BNE, hopefully with the aid of the diagnostics, you now could feel ok buying an uncertified one, at least so far as being able to tell if it were genuine.

goose3

coinguy

I really like the AU50 also. At first glance I too thought AU55. Nice circ. coin! not a bad price either. You won't have that one long.

Also, as much as I like buffalos, I never knew that the beard was a diagnostic point for the 3 legger!!!


My preference out of all of them would be the AU50. Then I'd have some dough left to get another!!

DesertLizard

Thanks for another great informative post. I learn something new almost everyday on here!

BTW, my check is in the mail!

airplanenut

Mark, I thought it was AU58 That is why I made mention of the hits... if I realised it was a 50, then I wouldn't have said anything, it makes the scan look fair

coinguy1

Goose - I like your thinking and your strategy.!

DesertLizard - this is a great place for all of us to learn and thanks for the check!

Jeremy - thanks for the explanation - now your remark makes a lot more sense - good eye and - "cool"!

MacCoin

I never been a nickel type of guy(do like half dimes). I always throught the 3 legged buffalo had two leg in front and one in back. thanks for the buff lesson.

Bulldog

If I only had $5750 left in my Xmas Budget. I love varieties and this nikel is quite a good one.

Bulldog

Cam40

Thanks for the lesson on the famous 3-legged Buffalo nickel.I,m fasinated with the knowledge of rare coins
with an emphasis on diagnostics of those most popular `key` coins.This is some of the fun stuff for me now.
Reading the book BEFORE you buy the coin.
Despite my new CU forum member status of `expert collector`,I,m only about 4 1/2 years into `active coin collector`Thats about how long I,ve been a member here.so...as a(nother) coingratulatory note to my fellow
members,Thank you some much for the tremedous amount of coin-smarts you have all brought to me.
I,like alot of us,went from 0-60 in 2 seconds thanks to just reading what others are saying and trying to interact alittle.
I dig these types of threads.We,re learnin the important stuff here buddy.
Thanks Mark for `Thread of the Year` Award.

Nickelchaser

Excellent post coinguy1, very informative

This is one of my favorites
I find that the lower grades (G-f) for this one are harder to find than the higher grades

Johnscoin

Thanks for the wonderful exhibit Mark!
Last weekend I was lucky enough to see a PCGS MS 66 3-legged and I wish I could see it now. The diagnostic that I had always looked for were the dots underneath the Buffalo's belly. Now I can notice the others as well! Thanks!

As a kid I was told that you could tell if the 3 legs were real if the Buffalo looked like it was using the bathroom...Unfortunately I still remember that...