Newbie with Buffalo Nickel questions

Vetter

Hi all. I'm new here. I just got a small collection of coins from my dad when he passed away. It came with a book of Buffalo Nickels. The book is a "Library Of Coins" volume 6. Copyright 1959. The book is not complete. It has 45 coins in it. Some of the coins look great, others its a bit hard to see the date. I would never sell them, but I have a few questions:

1: Are these coins worth anything?
2: How hard is it to finish the book?
3: Were can I find them?
4: Do alot of people save these?
5: What should I look for when I find some?
6: Are some dates harder to find then others?

Thanks for any help.

Tony

Here are the dates in the book if this helps at all.

1914, 1915, 1915-S, 1916-D, 1916-S, 1917, 1917-S, 1918, 1918-D, 1918-D over 17, 1919, 1919-S, 1920, 1920-S, 1921-S, 1923, 1924, 1924-D, 1924-S, 1925, 1925-S, 1926, 1926-S, 1927, 1928, 1928-S, 1929, 1929-D, 1929-S, 1930, 1930-S, 1931-S, 1934, 1934-D, 1935, 1935-D, 1935-S, 1936, 1936-D, 1936-S, 1937, 1937-D, 1937-D 3-legged, 1937-S, 1938-D.

I guess the coins from 1913 are hard, as there are none in the book.

Here are a few pictures. I'm not to good at taking them..sorry. The coins are 1918-D over 17, 1917-S, 1924-S, 1926-S and 1937-D 3-legged.
I took a back picture (execpt the 18-d/17) as it looks like the "horn" is what you look for in the grade, I think.

BigGreek

Welcome!!!

The PCGS WEB site has a price guide where you can get a VERY ROUGH idea
of value for grade. Ofcourse, the hard part is figuring out the grade, but it
might give you some idea of how rare these are and how much it may cost
you to fill the holes.

A quick search on eBay might also turn up some price/value numbers, along
with pictures so you can compare with what you have.

Without a clear look at the coins, its hard for anyone to tell you their worth.

BigGreek

BTW, the 1937-D 3-legger, if genuine, is a rare and much sought after coin.

Hedger

You inherited a nice gift. These coins are worth quite a bit especially the three leg variety. It would be worth your time to read up on coins before you decide to sell or trade. 1913 dates are available but some mint marks are tougher to find in higher grades. You can find nice type ones for a decent price. Type two with mint marks are expensive. If you can go to a reputable dealer and have the three legger checked out and maybe send it in for grading someday if it is genuine. Many false three leggers exsist.

Welcome to the boards. You came to the right place.

NumisOxide

1918-D over 17 is rare and worth a lot of money even in the lowest grade. If genuine.

wam98

ClausUrch

Welcome!

First off, learn to grade..This site will help

Grading Buffalo's w/ Pictures

Compare prices...This site will help (as well as E-Bay)

Dave's Buffalo's

I would complete the set for rememberance of your father and upgrade as time and money permits; but that's just me.

rhedden

The 1921-S, 1924-S, 1925-S, and 1926-S could be valuable if they're in excellent condition. If they are well worn, then they are not so special. How would you describe the condition of the 1918/7-D?

Shamika

Tony,

If the list of coins you have is accurate, you have the biggies out of the way (except for 1913-S Type 2). It should be relatively easy to complete the set from where you stand.

Vetter

Here are 3 more. They look to be in great shape. The dates are 1918, 1926 and 1935-D

DRG

First Welcome to the forums!

Second it appears that you have some great coins there.

To give you some idea the 1918/17 D with a Full Horn on the reverse is worth about $3,000. Your coin appears to have some scratches on the front which will unfortunately negatively impact the price rather greatly, but it is still a very rare coin and probably worth around $500.

The 1937 D 3 leg with 3/4 of the horn showing goes for about $350.

It is hard to say what the other coins are worth but they are probably in the $50 each range.

Yes, MANY people collect Buffalo Nickels and the 2005 nickel will feature a variation of the buffalo reverse probably rekindling enthusiasm for this classic design.

There is too much to learn about what to look for to go into in this short answer but there are many books and articles that have been written on the topic.

Each date and mint mark is different as far as how hard they are to find. The PCGS price guide on this site will give you some idea.

Good luck and welcome again.

PS If you are looking to fill in your collection I have duplicates of most of the coins for sale and if you decide to sell I would also be interested in buying them. You can use the "Personal Message" feature to contact me.

PPS I have a 1998 Vette. GREAT CAR!!!!!

JxnBoy

First off, that is an awfully nice starter set. It seems your father did well.

I haven't seen anyone else say it, but it's very important:
Under no circumstances should you attempt to clean or enhance the appearance of the coins at this point.

Many people inherit coins or go to sell loved ones' collections and attempt to "clean them up" before hand. Don't mess with them.

That said, it's a great start, with some key dates already out of the way. As the others have said, if geniune, the set as is is already quite valuable.

I think a lot of people collect these, and there are many knoweledgable collectors of this series on this board. Just ask and you'll find a lot of folks have answers and opinions for you.

I'm glad to see that you're thinking about completing the set. It'll continue to give you something to remember your father by.

Welcome to the boards.

goose3

if you can, take a better pic of the 18 over 7 D of both sides and post them. The top of the 8 looks odd in that picture.

A solid "GOOD" goes for roughly 1,000.00 or more these days.

If your 8/7 is real it would appear to be a solid VF and would be worth quite a chunk of change, lite scratches or not.

if you need to make your pics large and cannot attach them or host them here, email them to me and I'll post and host.

goose3@neo.rr.com


do any of the dates on any of the coins look odd? like someone has dropped anything like acid on that area?


looks like you might have a nice set there.

tsacch

NIce set man, hope you can complete it and finish your Dads work.

tom

DorkGirl

Very nice One of the best days of my life was putting in the last coin to finish the Morgan albums that my dad and grampa started. If the bug bites you too, do your homework and then enjoy!!

Vetter

<< <i>if you can, take a better pic of the 18 over 7 D of both sides and post them. The top of the 8 looks odd in that picture.

A solid "GOOD" goes for roughly 1,000.00 or more these days.

If your 8/7 is real it would appear to be a solid VF and would be worth quite a chunk of change, lite scratches or not.

if you need to make your pics large and cannot attach them or host them here, email them to me and I'll post and host.

goose3@neo.rr.com


do any of the dates on any of the coins look odd? like someone has dropped anything like acid on that area?


looks like you might have a nice set there. >>



Here are 2 more of the 18 over 17 D. Sorry if they are big. As far as acid? on the dates. No i don't think so. Nothing looks odd or acid eaten.

Neptune

NIce set man, hope you can complete it and finish your Dads work.

ditto - that would make him proud!

BTW - welcome to the forum. If you do a search on buffalo, you will find some interesting reading.

Vetter

Looks like I am going to compleat the set. Anyone have the coins I'm missing? I think I'll go with very fine full horn condition. Any good dealers on line? Thanks