1916-d new buffalo nickel -- a new variety, posted by buffnixx

BUFFNIXX

1916-d buffalo nickel with high 6 in date see pix below .........
I placed a bid on this coin in the last 10 seconds of the auction but was outbid. I think this is new buff variety we all should be aware of, I would call this the 1916-d high six variety. Look at the 6 in the date it does not align with the other digits in the date and appears to be upset upwards. What do you think? Since this is a later die state they should be available to collectors.
In fact this might be called the “small six” variety. What do you think?_

tincup

That is kind of neat... definitely looks higher. Is this a previously identified variety, or is the first instance that you have seen?

BUFFNIXX

First instance I have seen and never heard of it before. Should be findable with some looking. Die state is mid to later so there out there.

jtlee321

Wow, that is pretty cool. I just took a look through CoinFacts and there are no examples shown there. This may be an interesting one to keep an eye out for.

BuffaloIronTail

I don't know what to think of this specimen. Got to think about it, as it seems to be an impossibility.

Pete

BLUEJAYWAY

@BUFFNIXX said:
1916-d buffalo nickel with high 6 in date see pix below .........
I placed a bid on this coin in the last 10 seconds of the auction but was outbid. I think this is new buff variety we all should be aware of, I would call this the 1916-d high six variety. Look at the 6 in the date it does not align with the other digits in the date and appears to be upset upwards. What do you think? Since this is a later die state they should be available to collectors.
In fact this might be called the “small six” variety. What do you think?_

I had commented on this oddity,high 6, on 3/19 in your other thread on Buffs. No response was forthcoming as to my question/comment on the high 6. It's encouraging that others have now decided to comment on it and I wasn't seeing things that were not there.

BUFFNIXX

@BLUEJAYWAY said:

@BUFFNIXX said:
1916-d buffalo nickel with high 6 in date see pix below .........
I placed a bid on this coin in the last 10 seconds of the auction but was outbid. I think this is new buff variety we all should be aware of, I would call this the 1916-d high six variety. Look at the 6 in the date it does not align with the other digits in the date and appears to be upset upwards. What do you think? Since this is a later die state they should be available to collectors.
In fact this might be called the “small six” variety. What do you think?_

I had commented on this oddity,high 6, on 3/19 in your other thread on Buffs. No response was forthcoming as to my question/comment on the high 6. It's encouraging that others have now decided to comment on it and I wasn't seeing things that were not there.

Sorry bluejayway for not answering you in the other thread but you got it right. I think collectors will be able to find
this variety because of the die state of the coin in this picture. It definetely ran for a while. Just as we have a 1970-s high and low 7 varieties (small and large date) Lincoln cents we will now have a 1916-d buffalo nickel high 6 variety.

CyndieChildress

Exciting.!.!

BuffaloIronTail

A little history about the "High 6".

Midway through the first year of production in 1913, problems with the Buffalo Nickel were becoming apparent. In the eyes of the Mint, the most glaring problem was the rapid wear on the word CENTS on the reverse. This could not be allowed, as there were still individuals in the Mint in 1913 that remembered the debacle wrought by the V nickel back in the 1880s. No denomination was put on the coin, it only had a Roman "V" on the reverse instead of the number 5. Unscrupulous individuals were gold plating the nickels and passing them off as 5 Dollar Gold Pieces. There were also problems producing the coin, the rough hewn area under the Buffalo was creating havoc with the dies, they were wearing too fast, and minor die cracks began to appear in that area.

The original Nickel, the "Type 1", was reworked midway through the first year of issue.............the fields were smoothed, and the "FIVE CENTS" was better protected by cutting away the mound, and placing them under a solid line.

This became the "Type 2" Buffalo on a plain.

After three years of circulation, it became apparent that more work needed to be done. The date on 1913-15 Nickels was wearing away too quickly, and the word "LIBERTY" was too weak and needed strengthening.

The Mint tried to address these problems in 1916. LIBERTY was strengthened, and the date area was reworked in an attempt to provide more survivability to the date. This reworking included re-engraving the numerals to make them hold up better to wear.

In essence, 1916 Nickels could be considered a "Type 3", but the title never caught on.

Part of the reworking involved strengthening the last 2 numerals in the date. They were made bolder, especially the very last numeral. That's why we see a lot of partial date Buffalo Nickels showing either one or two of the last numeral.

So the redesign, in effect, was only partially successful.

The "High 6" variety is not really a variety. It just seems that way. The nickel in question was heavily clashed, with design elements from the reverse invading the recessed areas of the obverse die. This is evident on the neck area of the Indian, the "moth eaten" area looks that way because it was impressed with areas of the Buffalo hide from the reverse.

If you look real close at the area between the 6 and the braid, you will notice that there is a point where the 6 begins to curve to the left, and the braid curves to the right. This happens at the same point, essentially making a "Y" effect if you can envision it. The 6 is normally higher than the numeral one to its left on all 1916s.

This "Y" is evident and in the same place on all 1916 nickels. The appearance of a "High 6" comes from re-working the date area to remove clashes, and also from a flattening of the lower numerals most probably from the re-work.

Check the pictures out and decide for yourself. This is the only explanation I can provide.

Pete

ricko

Interesting anomaly... the six is decidedly higher...@BuffaloIronTail...That certainly is a good explanation behind the issue...... Great post.... Cheers, RickO

BUFFNIXX

@BuffaloIronTail said:
A little history about the "High 6".

Midway through the first year of production in 1913, problems with the Buffalo Nickel were becoming apparent. In the eyes of the Mint, the most glaring problem was the rapid wear on the word CENTS on the reverse. This could not be allowed, as there were still individuals in the Mint in 1913 that remembered the debacle wrought by the V nickel back in the 1880s. No denomination was put on the coin, it only had a Roman "V" on the reverse instead of the number 5. Unscrupulous individuals were gold plating the nickels and passing them off as 5 Dollar Gold Pieces. There were also problems producing the coin, the rough hewn area under the Buffalo was creating havoc with the dies, they were wearing too fast, and minor die cracks began to appear in that area.

The original Nickel, the "Type 1", was reworked midway through the first year of issue.............the fields were smoothed, and the "FIVE CENTS" was better protected by cutting away the mound, and placing them under a solid line.

This became the "Type 2" Buffalo on a plain.

After three years of circulation, it became apparent that more work needed to be done. The date on 1913-15 Nickels was wearing away too quickly, and the word "LIBERTY" was too weak and needed strengthening.

The Mint tried to address these problems in 1916. LIBERTY was strengthened, and the date area was reworked in an attempt to provide more survivability to the date. This reworking included re-engraving the numerals to make them hold up better to wear.

In essence, 1916 Nickels could be considered a "Type 3", but the title never caught on.

Part of the reworking involved strengthening the last 2 numerals in the date. They were made bolder, especially the very last numeral. That's why we see a lot of partial date Buffalo Nickels showing either one or two of the last numeral.

So the redesign, in effect, was only partially successful.

The "High 6" variety is not really a variety. It just seems that way. The nickel in question was heavily clashed, with design elements from the reverse invading the recessed areas of the obverse die. This is evident on the neck area of the Indian, the "moth eaten" area looks that way because it was impressed with areas of the Buffalo hide from the reverse.

If you look real close at the area between the 6 and the braid, you will notice that there is a point where the 6 begins to curve to the left, and the braid curves to the right. This happens at the same point, essentially making a "Y" effect if you can envision it. The 6 is normally higher than the numeral one to its left on all 1916s.

This "Y" is evident and in the same place on all 1916 nickels. The appearance of a "High 6" comes from re-working the date area to remove clashes, and also from a flattening of the lower numerals most probably from the re-work.

Check the pictures out and decide for yourself. This is the only explanation I can provide.

Pete

Thanks for the input but I am not sure which is correct. You may well be but when I look at the 6 in the date on the one I posted that last 6 looks smaller to me. may be just an optical delusion on my part. still thanks for the info all of which I was not aware of. such an interesting series the "buff nixx" are.

BuffaloIronTail

I agree. Buffs have fascinated me since I started collecting. The location "appears" strange and is visually appealing.

You can pursue it, but you'll have to get someone higher up than me in this army to back you up.

I'm just a Private.

Pete

DIMEMAN

Good thread, but there looks to be a definite difference between the height of the 6 on the 2 shown Nickels.

Edited to add that I just went out to ebay and looked at a bunch of 16-D's and the high 6 seems to be quite common. And the 6 is definitely high.

CaptHenway

I agree with BuffaloIronTail....the so-called "High 6" is normal for the date.

The 9 is also higher than the two 1's.

joeykoins

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Normal for that date and mintmark. Now, If you find a ton of 1916d's without the "High 6", that would be a different story, right? Very interesting, regardless! Nice that you pointed it out.-joey