1916-D Buffalo Nickel For Grading

High AU to low Unc (55 to 62)

Dull surfaces with some flat spots. The flat spots may be due to strike or wear... can't really tell.

Lightly circulated LDS . 58+ .

AU50/53

@Mike1487, I see the reason for frustration. It's a poster child for why all of us agonize over the Denver Buffs.

Remember that the Denver mint resented having to strike subsidiary coinage. Denver originally was created to strike gold and silver coins. Their first experience with nickel coinage was in 1912. Their history with striking the overly complicated Buffalo design in hard metal was, to put it charitably, difficult.

This coin reflects matching EMDS dies. There are parts of the strike that are sharp, especially the peripheral strike. The obverse shows a full rachis and calamus on the second feather and about 3/4 of the rachis on the first feather. The date is mostly crisp, and the feather tie and upper hair are sharp. The central device elements are awful.

The reverse has the same frustration. The peripheral lettering is sharp. The curl of the tail is sharp. The central devices are awful.

There is minimal clashing and die polishing for the clashes.

There is solid luster, especially in the peripheral elements and protected areas.

One concern is the greenish tint I see on the obverse below the chin and west of the date, and on the reverse at the buffalo's upper back. This may suggest non-archival PVC storage in the past.

All things considered, It appears that there is very light wear on the high points of the reverse and at the cheek and hair on the obverse. This may be deceptive, because of lighting and the possible greenish tint. IMHO, it is AU-58. Once again, there may be some conservation concerns if it was in non-archival PVC previously.

If PVC can be ruled out or remediated, this is a nice 1916-D. The luster is original and enough of the strike is sharp to make it a desirable coin. The matching die states are a real plus.