To Crack Or Not To Crack: 1935 Buffalo Nickel DDR In ICG Slab.

I went to ICG's verification page but it just repeated the information on the slab. Population report was meaningless.
https://www.icgcoin.com/verification/

I agree with your choice. It will at least protect the coin.

Some images for grading. Unfortunately, the obverse is right near the top surface of the slab, but the reverse is sunken pretty far down from the plastic window.

I agree, any grading will be a bit iffy because of the slab.

First things first, your coin is 1935 FS-801, DDR-001, WDDR-001. The notching on the "E"s of FIVE and CENTS and the clear doubling on the "V" of FIVE are dead giveaways. It is either late Stage B or early Stage C. The Stage C marker is the obverse die crack from the braid to the shoulder just east of the "5." It is visible, but not quite complete.

Second, the coin will be detailed. There is a corrosion spot removed on the Indian's head and the coin has been cleaned (wiped).

Third, clash polishing makes the coin appear more worn than it is. The later stages of this DDR show extensive clash polishing, and this is apparent on your coin. The heavy die polishing lines in the fields NE-SW on the obverse and NW-SE on the reverse are typical for this die pair. Ironically, they polished the buffalo's head quite well, but didn't polish the second feather / "U" of UNITED clash well enough to remove it. The LIBERTY / right rear hoof clash also isn't polished well enough to remove it. On some examples, parts of EPU can be seen beneath the chin. I can't quite make out the lettering beneath the chin on your coin.

The buffalo's head and horn have been affected by the die polishing. The rear portion of the buffalo's back (beneath UNUM) has also been affected by the die polishing. The lower second and third feather and chin are affected by the polishing.

Putting all this together, on the obverse, your coin has a complete rachis and calamus on the second feather, some detail on the knot, some separation on the braids, decent detail in the eye, lips, chin, and hair, and weak but discernable separation of the hair and forehead. These are consistent with low VF.

On the reverse, the buffalo's tail, "F" of FIVE, and "S" of CENTS are merging with the rim. Everywhere except at PCGS, this would cap the grade at VF. Disregarding the die-polished areas, the reverse detail on the buffalo's eye, beard, foreleg, and hump are consistent with low to mid VF.

Based on what I can make out, this coin looks like VF-20 Details, maybe VF-25 Details.

It's a great catch, regardless of details or technical grade. You have a keeper.

Fortcollins, as always, thanks for the outstanding analysis!



Yeah, I kinda thought you guys were going to say that. Initially, I had some hope that the dark gray spots were just crud that could be dissolved with acetone, but the more I looked at it under magnification, the more places I could see where corrosion and environmental damage had been stripped away.


I think that's great news! Certainly a considerably higher grade than the 10-15 that I would have given the coin.


Thanks! I was fortunate to come across that one in my feed. The coin was picked for $8, although the seller tried to ship it with an ESUS label, so that cost me another $6.42 at the post office in postage due. Still a great bargain for an iconic variety.

Given that the coin is Details regardless, I am going to keep it in the ICG slab.

Clearly I have a lot left to learn about die polishing vs. die wear, and about the completeness of ribbons and rachis! =P

You can take a healthy slice of the credit for my Buffalo nickel cherry-picks. While I have grown familiar with some variety catalogs—namely Wexler, Variety Vista, and PCGS—all of the knowledge on hunting these varieties was learned 100% on CCF.



Hopefully this isn't a daft question. The 1916 doubled die obverse is obviously king. Is the second coin the 1918/7? I know the dates on Buffalo nickels were hubbed, not hand punched, so the FS-101 designation leads me to believe it's considered a DDO (similar to the 1943/2 Jefferson nickel).

It's a very good question! The 1918/7-D is a DDO, like the other wartime varieties during both World Wars. It's more common than the price would suggest, but the demand is high. Yes, the 1916 DDO and 1918/7-D are the top two Buffalo doubled dies.

Sounds like the correct choice for now.