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"Oh give me a home..."

.....where the buffalo roam"

I live in the west, when I was young a buffalo was something of mystique. People used to talk about how few of them existed. They were on the endangered species' list, it was a rarity and something very special to see one of these majestic animals. Today there are large herds and the buffalo has recovered from it's near extinction event. In the west they can be seen in droves and on many ranches they are raised much like cattle. You can get a buffalo burger at many establishments (they're great btw!) It is very encouraging to see what the human society can do when we put our minds to it. But that's not my point. My point is that the buffalo isn't nearly as interesting to me now that they are relatively common. When they were mysterious and rare, they were sought after, but now seeing a buffalo isn't nearly as big a deal.

Frequently I think coins can be like buffalo. When the market doesn't see a specific coin for a while, the auction prices can go though the roof, but when a few coins show up at the same time, they may be largely ignored since the perception of their availability has changed. True rarity and intrinsic value isn't as important as perceived rarity and demand in the marketplace.

Sometimes we forget how important the buffaloes in our lives are until we miss them for a while.

Post your "buffalo" coin...tell us a story about it...or just post a coin with a buffalo on it in appreciation of the "Great American Bison!"

Comments

  • MarkInDavisMarkInDavis Posts: 1,720 ✭✭✭✭
    I'm sure you'll get many posts with nicer ones than this. I bought this one for my Dad one Christmas. It was his birthyear. It is mine again now.

    imageimage
    image Respectfully, Mark
  • GoldbullyGoldbully Posts: 17,869 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Bought this mighty gold 1 oz. Buffalo for $1025.................and to think I thought the Mint was over-charghing. image

    image
  • BAJJERFANBAJJERFAN Posts: 31,234 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>.....where the buffalo roam"

    I live in the west, when I was young a buffalo was something of mystique. People used to talk about how few of them existed. They were on the endangered species' list, it was a rarity and something very special to see one of these majestic animals. Today there are large herds and the buffalo has recovered from it's near extinction event. In the west they can be seen in droves and on many ranches they are raised much like cattle. You can get a buffalo burger at many establishments (they're great btw!) It is very encouraging to see what the human society can do when we put our minds to it. But that's not my point. My point is that the buffalo isn't nearly as interesting to me now that they are relatively common. When they were mysterious and rare, they were sought after, but now seeing a buffalo isn't nearly as big a deal.

    Frequently I think coins can be like buffalo. When the market doesn't see a specific coin for a while, the auction prices can go though the roof, but when a few coins show up at the same time, they may be largely ignored since the perception of their availability has changed. True rarity and intrinsic value isn't as important as perceived rarity and demand in the marketplace.

    Sometimes we forget how important the buffalos in our lives are until we miss them for a while.

    Post your "buffalo" coin...tell us a story about it...or just post a coin with a buffalo on it in appreciation of the "Great American Bison!" >>



    And I'll show you a house full of buffalo chips!

    image
    theknowitalltroll;
  • jmski52jmski52 Posts: 23,209 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Bought this mighty gold 1 oz. Buffalo for $1025.................and to think I thought the Mint was over-charghing.image

    They were over-charging! That's why nobody bought them. And THAT's why it's now a killer coin.image
    Q: Are You Printing Money? Bernanke: Not Literally

    I knew it would happen.
  • RB1026RB1026 Posts: 1,475 ✭✭✭✭
    Yep, count me in! I love Buffaloes. The American Bison is a magnificent and majestic symbol of our heritage and the American West. Its place in our cultural history and its impact not only on this nation's native peoples but the part it played in Western expansion was monumental. As a kid in STL, I wanted to grow up and own a Buffalo ranch... LOL (not kidding!). Now 45, I have given that dream up for something a tad more practical and deal in nice Buffalo 5c among other things. I suppose I got my herd after all, just in a different form image However, my passion for the actual animal as well as images of it remains unwavering.

    Here's a sweetheart that is actually online in our store right now......

    image

    For my money, there is not a better looking coin in the world than a '13 Ty1 MS67 Buffalo 5c. James Earle Fraser was a genius and he knocked this design out of the park imo. It's really cool that the "big shaggy" has made a comeback in numbers and is thriving now. Along with the Bald Eagle, what creature could be more "American" than the Buffalo. Great topic!
  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 29,134 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I'm sure you'll get many posts with nicer ones than this. I bought this one for my Dad one Christmas. It was his birthyear. It is mine again now.

    imageimage >>

    that one is a keeper for sure mark image
  • Billet7Billet7 Posts: 4,923 ✭✭✭
    A nice herd we've got here.

    Here's a "Buffalo" coin. A coin I thought was quite rare, but after purchasing one, found them come out of the woodwork like gangbusters. They're still rare, but when they all of a sudden they were more available I was disenchanted a bit.

    image
  • Billet7Billet7 Posts: 4,923 ✭✭✭
    Also, one of my favorite state quarter designs.

    image
  • EagleguyEagleguy Posts: 2,264 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The buffalo is IMO one of the best designs ever put on a coin.

    image

    JH
  • DRUNNERDRUNNER Posts: 3,895 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Simon . . .

    Great post, and very relevant.

    My most recent Buff was the Doily 3-Legger, so Buffs are on my mind now. I love the pix above . . well done all!!

    Drunner
  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I really like the Buffalo nickel, and the gold 1oz. is my favorite gold piece. Cheers, RickO
  • papabearpapabear Posts: 851 ✭✭
    This is my one and only Buffalo image
    image
    image

    Thank You Papabear image
  • jomjom Posts: 3,480 ✭✭✭✭✭
    My favorite Buffalo

    image

    A newly acquired Buffalo

    image

    jom
  • joeykoinsjoeykoins Posts: 17,464 ✭✭✭✭✭
    '' The Buffalo" The greatest symbol of American coin! Nothing comes close. Thanks James Earle Fraser.

    "Jesus died for you and for me, Thank you,Jesus"!!!

    --- If it should happen I die and leave this world and you want to remember me. Please only remember my opening Sig Line.
  • etexmikeetexmike Posts: 6,852 ✭✭✭
    A pickup for my 36 - 42 proofs in rattler holders.

    image


    Mike
  • nwcoastnwcoast Posts: 2,884 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I too am exceptionally fond of the animal and its history. So much so that during a recent trip to visit family in Oklahoma, I dragged fellow family members on a day long excursion to the view one of the only remaining wild herds at The Tall Grass Prairie Preserve- a beautiful area which is being managed and restored by The Nature Conservency.

    I also have aquired some interesting historic photos from an antique photo album I picked up in a thrift shop... Photos of old west scenes and Bison which I cherish and might even be of minor historical significance to some other Bison enthusiast..... Though I have yet to share them with anyone...

    Here's one of my toned ones for the herd!
    image

    Happy, humble, honored and proud recipient of the “You Suck” award 10/22/2014

  • gripgrip Posts: 9,962 ✭✭✭✭✭
    nwcoast
    I would love to see the antique photos.
  • nwcoastnwcoast Posts: 2,884 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Perhaps I could scan a few and post them here if it would't be too "off topic"...
    Here's another tribute to th fine beast and commerative coinage.
    image

    Happy, humble, honored and proud recipient of the “You Suck” award 10/22/2014

  • illini420illini420 Posts: 11,466 ✭✭✭✭✭
    How about a video of one of my Buffalo Nickels... might need to change your player to 720p if you want to watch it in HD image

    Link to YouTube video

    Probably will never be the most famous youtube video of a buffalo nickel though image

  • BryceMBryceM Posts: 11,851 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Where I live there is a small herd a few miles from my house that lives on a few hundred acres. It's very fun to drive by and consider what the herds must have been like back in their glory days.

    To think that single groups numbered in the tens of thousands is incredible to contemplate. Trains often waited hours for a herd to pass across the tracks. Bison were reduced to a few hundred animals by the 1880s, victims of commercial hunting. What an insane tragedy exctinction would have been except for the actions of a few people who saved a few scattered herds. The whole idea of sustainable harvest obviously hadn't hit the scene yet.

    image
  • CoinosaurusCoinosaurus Posts: 9,643 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The 1864-S quarter is nice, "buffalo" or not.

    Yes, rarity and availability should not be confused.
  • nwcoastnwcoast Posts: 2,884 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>How about a video of one of my Buffalo Nickels... might need to change your player to 720p if you want to watch it in HD image

    Very nice!
    And one of my favorite pieces of music as well....mmmmimage

    Happy, humble, honored and proud recipient of the “You Suck” award 10/22/2014

  • TwobitcollectorTwobitcollector Posts: 3,836 ✭✭✭✭✭
    image

    image
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  • OnWithTheHuntOnWithTheHunt Posts: 1,260 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Great coins all, but how about a few varieties and errors to spice things up?

    image
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    image >>

    Proud recipient of the coveted "You Suck Award" (9/3/10).
  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,447 ✭✭✭✭✭
    How about several different Bison samples?? image

    image
    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose, Cardinal.
  • PlatinumDuckPlatinumDuck Posts: 470 ✭✭✭
    Sorry that it is not American, but I still find it to be an attractive Buffalo:

    image

    The Canadian Wood Bison. Slightly different than the American Bison, but still impressive. This design of this coin is very similar to the U.S. buffalo's, so I thought that was interesting. Unfortunately I have found something that fits my collection better so this one will probably be leaving me soon.

    Great Thread!

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  • BryceMBryceM Posts: 11,851 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Everyone needs a nice 38-D. I just reshot this one:

    image
  • gripgrip Posts: 9,962 ✭✭✭✭✭
    What a treat! Thank's to all of you..

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