1918 (D) Buffalo Nickel - 8/7

Coin Details

Auction Record

Description

This is the 1918/7 overdate variety of the 1918-D 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. Produced at the Denver Mint, the 1918 (D) Buffalo Nickel - 8/7 is part of the Buffalo Nickels 1913-1938 series. The 1918-D Buffalo Nickel issue as a whole had a mintage of 8.4 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 1918/7-D overdate — a 1917 die re-engraved for 1918 — is one of the most valuable Buffalo Nickel varieties. The Denver Mint, which grew from an 1860s gold rush assay office, has served as a major production facility since 1906. Struck in 75% copper, 25% nickel, weighing 5 grams, 21.2 mm in diameter, with a plain edge. Cataloged as PCGS #3939.

Cross References

FS-101