Couple Questions About Buffalo Nickels (Pics)

The one you've pictured is definitely a 1913. I can't believe it ended up in a dateless lot with a date that clear, and being a semi-key date too.

Some other stuff to look for:

Type 1 (raised ground) are the first thing to look for. Those are all obviously 1913.

Look for the 1916 doubled die on any dateless without a mintmark. It's easy to diagnose by the doubling of the feathers and other features. Also, most (but not all) of the 1918/7-D overdates have a diagnostic die crack starting near the top of the braid and going across the cheek. It may not be very visible on a heavily worn coin, but it's something to look for.

Look for two-feather, 3-legged and 3 1/2 leg varieties (though the latter two are quite unlikely to have completely worn dates). If there's an RPM or an OMM, you might be able to determine the date by matching it to a known variety.

Also, you can tell 1920, 1921 and 1924 dateless very easily.



If there is any fragment of the date showing, set it aside for starters. After you've looked at a lot of partial dates you'll be surprised how many you can pick out from just a tiny part of the date combined with the positioning of the F initial.

Also, don't bother acid dating any without mintmarks. All the dates that are still worth something in acid-restored condition are S or D. The philly ones are probably worth more dateless.

1915.

Also, if you're really going to go through the effort of checking for a 1916 DDO in a pile of dateless, no mint mark nickels, your best bet is to look for an extra wide hair ribbon first, then look at the feathers.

I've found over 3 dozen 1918/7-D overdates and not one had that diagnostic crack. My opinion is that the crack goes away sometime before the date does...

Cool! I put it in the 2x2 because it looked like a 1915 to me, too. It is a 1915-S. Thanks for all the help, again. :)

I ended up breaking out the magnifying glass to make the job easier on me, which it did! So you're not the only one in that boat.

What is a 2 feather buffalo? I'm not sure what to look for.

Also, what are type 1's usually worth for P/D/S mints?

The obverse normally shows three feathers, two obvious ones and just part of one poking out between the neck and one of the large feathers. On a couple dates, the third one got polished off (similar to the three-legged error).

That's the idea... They're not too rare, and they can be polished off to varying degrees. The most desirable has no trace of the third feather at all. They occur for several different dates, so absent something else, it's not diagnostic for the date. The top two in your picture are 1921 though, here's hoping one has an "S".

I treated 3 of my dateless Buffalo nickels so far, and I found this. I'm going going to list the date, because I want to see if you all can read it. I know I can clearly read it in person, but I still like other opinions.

I'd guess 13, but would want to see it in hand.