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so what makes a great buffalo nickel?
WingedLiberty1957
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What do people look for?
This is a 1938-D I own. Would this be considered sort of middle of the road average? Or something else. PCGS MS66.
19
What do people look for?
This is a 1938-D I own. Would this be considered sort of middle of the road average? Or something else. PCGS MS66.
Comments
To me, it looks very clean, well struck, problem-free and colorful/attractive, but with somewhat subdued luster. Still, overall, it’s quite appealing.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
That one is quite good.
"so what makes a great buffalo nickel?" "What do people look for?"
3 legs ???
The one you show could be number one in a lot of peoples books. But there are a lot of different reasons to like Buffs far beyond this post.
I'll let everyone profess their likes.
Pete
That is an outstanding example of the type and is 99%+ fully struck, with only very minor incompleteness of the hairlines above the braid ribbon. True full strikes are harder to find for this date than most think-only 2% show complete detailing according to my intensive 12 year study of the strike for each year and Mint. Your coin is exceptional in both in strike and color, which are the two attributes I look for in a Buffalo nickel.
The 1923-S below illustrates my definition of a 100% fully struck coin.
To bad that the Mint started to get their strikes right toward the end of the Nickel run and not in the beginning or trying to save on die life and setting the presses to a lower striking pressure, they had plenty of dies available because of Philadelphia and San Francisco had been told to start getting ready for the "New Jefferson" nickel and told that there would be No Buffalo Production from either of them. By the way that is a very Nice 38-D you have.
That is a beautiful Buffalo.
Here's my 38-D. Clearly not as well struck as @WingedLiberty1957 although I like the overall appearance of the coin. Definitely will be upgraded at some point.
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
Here's my '38-D. Not fully struck but the obverse is prooflike. I like the color, too. PCGS MS65.
While I certainly appreciate the insanely gorgeous Mint State examples that we see on a regular basis here on the forum...when I was working on the set, I tried to obtain F-VF examples that looked like this:
(photos courtesy of Heritage archives)
That natural, evenly circulated, "dirty" look. Oddly enough, I like that same exact look on circulated early Walker years.
On the reverse with that toning it resembles a sunrise or sunset. Very nice.
This is my favorite buffalo of all the examples I’ve owned- it’s really stunning in hand. Will likely upgrade down the road at some point for an example with more colors when the right one comes around but pleased for now.
Can only speak for myself but to answer the OP question, I look for the same things I look for in any MS coin- eye appeal, luster and strike.
For my set, Im looking for a combination of strike and eye appeal. Your coin is pretty! Here is my 38D along with another recent NEWP which is struck pretty well for its typical issue.
38D
35S
This observation seems very true to me. I also own a very nice highly-lustrous type-1 (buffalo on the mound) 1913, and boy was it a lot weaker struck than my 1938-D. You can hardly make out the date on this first-year issue coin. PCGS MS65.
My Coin Blog
My Toned Lincoln Registry Set
IMO above average not a monster.
so what makes a great buffalo nickel?
a strong strike with the resulting strong luster.
Good start but a grease stain, planchette flaw, etc takes it out of great no matter how nice the strike/luster.
By the way, does anyone else remember that weak acid in a bottle that you could buy back in the 1960's that would "bring back" the dates on dateless worn buffalo nickels pulled from circulation? That kind of makes me cringe now. Dropping acid on a coin.
My Coin Blog
My Toned Lincoln Registry Set
it is still available and asked for by collectors.
I found a twin brother
Look at the nearly identical die 'corrosion' around the neck and chin area.
Some very nice Buffs shown here. I like the sunset toning on the OP reverse.
I may not know what I'm doing most of the time, but I'm Damn good at it. 😇 😈
Certainly! And they sold a similar product for dateless Standing Liberty quarters.
This is one of two slabbed bufs I own. MS65. I'm considering selling it,but for a premium over the PCGS price because of the toning. It's a Type 1 toned which makes it difficult for my to part with though.
This one's staying put in my collection. MS67+
Positive BST Transactions (buyers and sellers): wondercoin, blu62vette, BAJJERFAN, privatecoin, blu62vette, AlanLastufka, privatecoin
#1 1951 Bowman Los Angeles Rams Team Set
#2 1980 Topps Los Angeles Rams Team Set
#8 (and climbing) 1972 Topps Los Angeles Rams Team Set
Well, dropping acid was pretty normal then. LOL
Positive BST Transactions (buyers and sellers): wondercoin, blu62vette, BAJJERFAN, privatecoin, blu62vette, AlanLastufka, privatecoin
#1 1951 Bowman Los Angeles Rams Team Set
#2 1980 Topps Los Angeles Rams Team Set
#8 (and climbing) 1972 Topps Los Angeles Rams Team Set
Spectacular example
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
What I think makes them great is a bunch of color and none of those carbon spots that plague them so often. Like most nickels you sometimes have to compromise strike quality especially on certain dates and mints.
I have the difficult task of deciding which one of these 26 buffs I want to keep, one is a 64 and the brand new to me one (bottom) is a 65. It has one spot but it’s not horribly distracting.
Neither are hammered but it’s pretty tough to find one from the 20s that is.
The first has a better strike and outstanding color so, in spite of a one point lower grade, that would be the one I'd keep.
I was marveling over a cameo the other day Does anyone have 8 grand I can borrow?
Forget it! I was kidding. OK.......
Lots of great examples shown here, too!
Leo
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
Full strike, original MS and no tarnish/toning
This is what I look for in a Buff - great surrounding plastic.
Thanks for the post - nice to see what a fully struck Buff looks like, down to complete definition of the hoofs.
The buffalo nickel has been my favorite since I started collecting coins in the 1960s. My favorite wasn't in mint state. It was a 1914 that I found in circulation more than 50 years ago. It had a full date and a slight greenish tint on the low points. I don't know what ever happened to that coin, but I still remember it. It had already become hard to find buffalo nickels in circulation by the 1960s. That coin was in the best condition of any that I found from the teens.
The design of the buffalo nickel is the main reason they are so beautiful. Then the strike, luster, lack of blemishes and of course I like a splash of color😊
I still have my blue Whitman partially filled with circulation finds in the 60's. At the time my favorite was a 1926-S with a barely readable date/mm. I never knew uncirculated buffalos still existed then, at least I never saw one. We were lucky to find them with dates.
Not a full struck Buffalo, but I love this type toning.
- Bob -
MPL's - Lincolns of Color"Central Valley" Roosevelts
A crazyhounddog label
I stand corrected. I will edit my post. Thanks
No one beats Joe for amazing color Buffs.
To me, when you're dealing with a series with strike issues (Peace, SLQs, buffs), a strongly struck example is important. That said, what really struck me about Angel Dee's outstanding set was LUSTER. Yes, they had color too, but the luster was really impressive. Many, many 38-D coins come nice. Here's my nice but not stellar example:
A lot of great examples in this thread.........but let me re-post a Buff Proof which exhibits strike not possible on MS coins:
PR67.5 Angel Dees Photo
TrueView Photo
I bought this coin from Angel Dees on the rebound after the original purchaser did not like it. I understand that it didn't match his set?
OINK
My first thought was " Oh wow! ".