1916-S 5c Buffalo Nickel With No Initial Under Date & Large Embedded MM

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. In my mind I think it is at least xf. The horn is full and rounded. Also the fur on the head is really well struck and full as well as the fur in the back. Tail also looks fully split. The obverse looks a little weakly struck, but hopefully it is the picture that is a little out of focus. Will post pics when it comes in.

I think XF as well. Interesting coin. I noticed you've been getting into Buffalo nickels a lot lately, what set, if one, are you going for?

I haven't found my photos of the counterfeit yet, but I found my notes. I don't have a date on the notes, though.

transfer counterfeit
muled dies, circulated 1916 obverse with higher grade 1920s reverse
mm is off, wrong style
big crack feather 2 to head
flattened rims
correct weight and specific gravity
first ones grainy, counterfeiter polished dies during minting, later coins better struck, no idea when die cracks appeared
nobody knows why he picked a common date
Fraser's initial didn't transfer to dies
started appearing a couple years ago
no clue who/when/where/how many/why

Mark me down for Counterfeit as well MM is way off leg details mushy .
As stated this is a known counterfeited date!

Here is another example of the 1916-S 5c with pictures (In a CCF thread - only the best ):
http://goccf.com/t/49138

Again, the S mintmark is close to the rim in the 2nd fake coin. Both known examples seem to be low grade examples.


In both fakes illustrated, the 6 in the date is more or less level with the other digits in the date. In my coin the 6 is significantly below the level of the other digits.
My coin:

Fake #1:

Fake #2:

This is a genuine 1916-S 5c buffalo currently for sale @ Heritage in a PCGS slab: https://coins.ha.com/itm/buffalo-ni...bnail-071515

Note that the MM is embedded like mine and also the MM is far apart from the rim. Looks like the MM in my coin is very similar and it is consistent with known real coins.

I don't really put sets together. I used to be a type collector but after a while I lost interest when I hit the big $ stoppers. I really like looking around and buying what I like. I don't go into it looking for something ex-ante, but just sift through lots of junk and sometimes something stands out. Sometimes what stands out is the condition, other times rarity, or price, but most often it is the story the coin tells. When I bought a couple of 1835 dimes recently it made me think that these coins were around at the time of Andrew Jackson's fight against the Bank of the U.S.

Why buffaloes? I find them interesting. The design is really different from the 19th century classic, early 20th century deco, and modern designs. It is distinctly American rather than European with the iconic buffalo and the composite of 3 famous indian chiefs.