The "old" buffalo nickel

ThatImpalaDude

A nice little article on the old Buffalo Nickel on a New York Times website, in case you haven't seen it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/06/opinion/06sun4.html?th

I hope this comes through as a link as I know didly squat about computers.

Steve

Tootawl

Linkified Linky
It's asking me for a username and password.

TUMUSS

Link

Need to have a login.

oreville

Here is a trip down memory lane for both the old nickel and the doiley PCGS insert.

sumnom

The (Old) Buffalo Nickel
By VERLYN KLINKENBORG

Published: March 6, 2005





Last week, the United States Mint released a new nickel, the third in its Westward Journey series. On the obverse is a portrait of Thomas Jefferson, who seems to loom into the porthole of the coin. The word "Liberty" appears in a facsimile of Jefferson's handwriting and is dwarfed by "In God We Trust." On the reverse, a bison stands on a small patch of prairie, fenced in by the words "United States of America," which nearly surround him. It is perhaps a meaningless artifact of design that this bison is facing to the right.

The new buffalo nickel is, of course, meant to recall the old buffalo nickel, which was minted in Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco between 1913 and 1938. That nickel was one of the most attractive coins ever issued in this country. A stern, almost oversized profile of an Indian chief appeared on the obverse - the most lifelike portrait of a Native American ever to appear on United States coinage. The bison on the reverse was not as naturalistic as the one that appears on the new nickel, but he was far more dominant. The coin can barely contain the creature. His head seems to be bowed to fit within the curvature of the rim, and you can almost sense a breadth of prairie lying beyond him. He faces left, and he could, if he wanted, graze his way out from under the words "United States of America," which arc over his back.

The mint distributed more than 1.2 billion of those nickels, and they have nearly all been retired. But even in the early 1960's, you could still find a buffalo nickel in your change from time to time. It was always an occasion to stop and look closely. This was a coin that worked in a purely iconographic fashion. It had a visual economy that is still moving. In the face of that Indian and the somber mass of that bison, you can visualize the tragic undertone of American history. To come upon a buffalo nickel - one of the old ones - in your pocket was to come upon a work of art.