1937 Buffalo Nickel For Grading

I could go in the low AU range, but I'm not an expert on this series.

I'm going to ask a moderator to move this to the US Classic coin grading forum. Perhaps fortcollins will notice it there and comment.

First,

With my house remodeling, I'm missing MY placement. I keep getting evicted from my temporary offices when the contractors start working on the space I'm occupying. I'm thinking my next stop is probably a camping tent.

This Buff is interesting because it shows how overworked the dies were in some years and it shows the heavy die clash polishing, To my eyes, it looks like the obverse is VLDS and the reverse is LMDS. The heavy cold metal flow lines on the obverse indicate a very late die state.

There are very slightly rotated die clashes (the second feather / buffalo's head to "U" of UNITED clash is very slightly left of where it should align and still plainly visible on the reverse). The chin/EPU clash left the usual comb beneath the chin, and was heavily polished. The second feather/head and "U" clash is heavily polished. The right rear hoof/ "LI" of LIBERTY clash is polished on the reverse, but untouched on the obverse. Die polishing has obliterated much of the hair on the buffalo's head and the bottom third of the second feather. Overall, the strike is also a bit weak for a later date Philadelphia coin.

It's clearly circulated. I can't tell from the photos whether the surface is original or cleaned. There are some heavy parallel scratches across the buffalo's lower face and beard and some lighter lines across the high points of the obverse. There is also a lot of surface pitting. The color of the coin is off, but that could be lighting. There are some longer and deeper scratches, to the left of the lips and left of the nose on the obverse and across the buffalo's face and diagonally across the left side of the buffalo's belly on the reverse. There are numerous light scratches on the obverse and reverse, but they are typical for a circulated coin. I don't think any of these would detail the coin.

Overall, to me, the circulation wear suggests AU-50, and not far from AU-53. The scratches may suggest a downward net grade to EF-45.

Just a side note. I paused briefly on one thing. Notice the raised bumps to the right of the buffalo's beard and throughout the hair on the buffalo's upper neck and into the back. This type of raised pitting (but not the location) is a hallmark of the known Chinese counterfeit 1937 Philadelphia Buffalo nickel. Unless they have a new counterfeit reverse die that looks much better, this coin is genuine. Yes, they have counterfeited every date and mint, including the common dates that they could buy for less than the cost of counterfeiting. Most likely they do these counterfeits to sell in the whole-faked-album offerings, because genuine coins mixed in would make the fakes obvious.

Anyway, decent 1937 Buff, interesting die state signs, and thanks for sharing it!

well, Fxenterprise1, you can see why FC is our resident SME for buffs his eyes see things that are almost impossible for a normal collector to see. does it make a difference in grading at a TPG? I doubt it, as they only have a minute or two to grade a coin. they are not going to get into this kind of detail in their decision. they determine if the coin is MS or circulated and then assign the numeric value. I highly doubt they are considering, die polishing, die states etc. its too time consuming.

i think the only thing you need to be aware of is the issues that can exist on these coins and if you are buying a high value example it may make a difference. if you continue to pursue this series, just be aware of this and I would post it here before pulling the trigger if possible. you dont want to pay a premium for an MS coin if its not.

@Fxenterprise1
Here is a link to another CCF thread that gives some good resources to learn more about the Buffs. For a fairly short series of coins, it's challenging on many levels. It is an addictive series, and can be fun, as well as frustrating. Again, welcome and know that we are all learners together here!