Would you believe: a "Hoard" of over 200 1913 Type 1 Buffalo Nickels?
DaveWcoins
Posts: 1,185 ✭✭✭
This has been an good summer for some interesting "out-of-the-woodwork" finds. Today I bought a group of over 200 1913 Type 1 buffalo nickels. According to the story, an ancestor put these aside in the 1920's to 1930's. The person was said to be a non-collector; not sure of the motivation behind putting aside just this one date.
Based of the "evidence" (i.e. the coins themselves), the story seems to check out. Nearly every one is in VF or better condition. A few are a little lower; a few are uncirculated.
I haven't gone through to see if any are type 2's or are mint marked yet. From my spot checking, they all appear to be 1913 (P) Type One Buffalo's in mid-circulated grade or better.
Any theories?
In any case, a cool little deal (also see the tin box they came in when they were sold to me).
Comments
Nice score.
From the photo it would appear that the story about their being put away in the 1920s and 1930s seems true. Those are the grades you would have expected to see in that period. (Unlike when I started collecting in 1961 and you were lucky if you could find one with a two number date or a readable denomination.)
It is possible that a story circulated at the time that they were "rare" or "were going to be recalled" and thus they were hoarded. We will never know for sure but it is an interesting lot of very saleable coins.
That's one ultra-cool stash. Interesting story as well.
Thanks for the pic!
Dave
Could the hoarder be thinking about the old B. Max Mehl ads offering to buy "the" 1913 (Liberty) nickel?
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Wow, "cool" !!!
What do you do when you acquire 200 type 1 nickels?
Latin American Collection
Look for 200 of every other date and mint and build sets?
Well every buffalo nickel set needs one at some point so yea they will sell over time! Plus they have a good back story about how they changed to the type 2 so that helps. I know I sell alot of 83 v nickels because of the back story of changing them due to racateer nickels
HAPPY COLLECTING
I remember 32 years ago getting first shot to cherry pick an original roll.
Make sure you check for the 3 1/2 leg variety.
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I was going to say just that but Rich beat me to it. There's also a Philly Var 2 that has Class VI (thicker than usual digits in the date, especially on the "3." Not worth anything close to the 3 1/2 leg but still a good one.
First Buffalo I ever bought. It began my obsession wiith that design so long ago. I have said a few times on the forum that there were some coins I wish I had never sold. That 13 type 1 was definitely one of them. Cool find!
One of my favorite nickels, type I.
What do you do when you acquire 200 type 1 nickels?
find some old albums to store them in, and when the tone up nicely, offer them to Crazyhounddog
Seriously, neat hoard and a neat story!
Very nice that's cool.
Hoard the keys.
Nice! Thanks for posting.
K
Nice break from the modern proof sets - should be fun sorting through those.
I can't think of any other recent 1 year designs until the bicentennials. I wonder how many hoards of 200 1976 quarters, halves or dollars are out there.
STACK THEM
That is very cool!
That is interesting... the date likely had some personal significance to individual...Could be some nice Buffs in there... Cheers, RickO
If you find a nice AU-MS type 2 I will be happy to take it off your hands at a fair price.
The box they came in looks very collectible ... but it is a market I know nothing about.
I can't image why not, with just about every series that is new, people tend to accumulate the design in bulk...just in case.
Definitely check for Die Varieties;
1913 5C Type 1 3-1/2 Legs FS-901 (FS-014.85)
1913 5C Type 1 DDR FS-1802
http://www.pcgscoinfacts.com/coin/detail/38428
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Nice!
Do you have a name for the hoard chosen yet?
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As 291fifth said it was probably in response to vague rumors that they were being "recalled." Look at how the 1883 No Cents nickels were hoarded because of rumors such as that.
If they are all type 1s, the hoarder probably believed that these would become valuable since they were only producing type 2s now.
I wouldn't be surprised if these were saved a bit earlier than speculated, perhaps late teens to early 1920s.
Tossed back much as people tossed back bicentennial quarters. A good sample of the typical condition after a few years of circulation. (Maybe there'll be a 1913/13 in there?)
My best guess if it is a non collector would be a significant birth year, maybe the collectors or a loved one.
We all get customers in from time to time asking for certain birth year coins from certain countries for relatives etc.
all around collector of many fine things
That is really cool. I don’t envy the task of selling them one by one though.
LIBERTY SEATED DIMES WITH MAJOR VARIETIES CIRCULATION STRIKES (1837-1891) digital album
It was pretty common to hoard 1st years of issue. That's why there are so many high grade 1909 cents, 1883 nickels, etc. This becomes especially true when the 1st year of issue became a one year type (09-VDB, no cents 1883 nickel, 1913 Type 1 Buff).
I can't even begin to tell you how many hoards of 1909 Lincoln cents I've encountered over the years.
True. The Mint had a heart attack when the word "Cents" on the TY-I nickels started to prematurely wear. There were still employees at the Mint that were around in 1883 when the Racketeer V Nickels were gold plated and made to look like 5 Dollar Gold pieces (because the word Cents was omitted from the coin).
The Mint quickly changed the design to protect the Denomination.
So....................
The 1913 Type I was hoarded for any or all of the reasons below:
Quite interesting. Not unusual though because of the intrinsic beauty of the coin itself.
Pete
thats a nice haul. ones like that are still out there for sure
Excess wear on both date and denomination were of concern to Mint HQ. Clarence Hobbs claimed that if the "token of value" were worn off the coin would cease to be legal. The mint director wanted to change both obverse and reverse, but Engraver Barber said the incuse denomination and related changes were enough. He gave no meaningful reason for not recessing the date at the same time as well as fixing other problems. Possibly, it was because of the stink Hobbs had created or that Fraser was involved in the reverse changes.
It's curious that George Morgan let the revised 1917 Type I quarter go into production with the same kind of date problem.
I'll offer $10 for the lot.
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
Now I guess it can't be sold as an unsearched roll with bright shiny coins on either end as some of the sellers do....But Dave W would never do that to his good coin buddies.