1914 Buffalo Nickel - 4/3

Coin Details

Auction Record

Description

This is the 1914/3 overdate variety of the 1914 Buffalo Nickel. By this date the date was part of the hub, so the overdate came from hubbing: the working die took impressions from hubs carrying two different years. The earlier date survives underneath wherever its strokes fall outside the later digits, which is why an overdate is read from the shapes that do not belong to the date as printed. The effect is in the die, so every coin struck from it carries the same remnant in the same position. Any mintage or rarity ranking given below counts the entire issue for this date and mint, not this variety: a variety comes from one die or a few, and how many coins they struck was never separately recorded. The 1914 Buffalo Nickel - 4/3 is a nickel from the Philadelphia Mint, belonging to the Buffalo Nickels 1913-1938 series. The 1914 Buffalo Nickel issue as a whole had a mintage of 20.7 million; how many coins carry this variety is unknown. The obverse features a Native American portrait that James Earle Fraser described as a composite of several chiefs, including Iron Tail (Lakota) and Two Moons (Cheyenne), and the reverse displays an American bison, traditionally identified as Black Diamond of New York's Central Park menagerie, standing on flat ground. The 1914-D is a scarce early Denver issue. Coined at the Philadelphia facility, the nation's original mint that has operated continuously since its 1792 founding. Struck in 75% copper, 25% nickel, weighing 5 grams, 21.2 mm in diameter, with a plain edge. Cataloged as PCGS #93924.

Cross References

FS-101