1918/7-D BUFFALO NICKEL NGC MS64

1918/7-D Buffalo Nickel - 1918/7-D Buffalo 5C NGC MS64. Considered to be true Americana this famous Buffalo Nickel Overdate is among the 20th Centuries most prized numismatic treasures. NGC shows a mere 14 1918/7-D Buffalo Nickel in MS64, not including how many resubmissions as the NGC price guide shows $87,500 in MS-64 and a jump to $161,500 in MS-64+ and over a quarter of a million dollars at $265,000.00 in MS-65. We think our 1918/7-D in MS-64 is a great value at $75,000.

Here is a rare, near-Gem 1918/7 overdate Buffalo Nickel that is a key to the series. The coin is well struck with full details on the Indians hair above the tie on the braid, the fur on the bisons head, and the fur line above its shoulders on its back. The reverse legends are also strong and sharp. The coin is toned with a light russet obverse and a light golden reverse. Beneath this toning, glows original mint luster. It along with the colors assures the coins originality. The surfaces are clean for the grade with no notable abrasion marks or other distractions. The overdate is easily visible without the aid of magnification.

James Earle Fraser designed the Indian Head or Buffalo nickel. The design shows a close profile of an Indian brave facing right. It takes up most of the coins surfaces. The Indians feathers are in his hair, and his braids are tied with string. LIBERTY is at the edge between 2:00 and 3:00. The date is at the lower left on the Indians shoulder. The buffalo, more correctly the bison, is facing left. Its design is from edge to edge. It stands on a slight rise of ground with a straight line below it. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is in an arc at the top edge and E PLURIBUS UNUM is in very small letters to the right of the bisons hump. The denomination, written as FIVE CENTS is under the raised ground at the bottom. The mintmark is on the reverse below the denomination.

Fraser was an American sculptor who was born in Minnesota. How fitting it was that he designed the Norse-American medal. Fraser was born in Winona, Minnesota. His father was a railroad engineer. He was one of a group sent out to recover the remains of Custers 7th Cavalry Regiment following his loss to Indians at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Many of James Frasers works show his exposure to frontier life and Indians. He began carving figures from limestone. At age fourteen, he began to take classed at the Art Institute of Chicago. At the Columbian Exposition, he was involved in the production of architectural sculptures. In 1895, while studying in Paris at Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Frasier met Augustus Saint-Gaudens. He won a competition that Saint-Gaudens was judging. Saint-Gaudens hired Fraser to assist him on his General Sherman Monument that was erected at the entrance to Central Park in New York City. In 1902, after working for Saint-Gaudens for four years, Fraser set up his own studio in New York. He taught at the Art Students League. Much of Frasers early work was from referrals from Saint-Gaudens who was always over-booked.

In 1913 his best known work, the Indian Head or Buffalo nickel, was minted. That same year he married a former student, Laura Gardin. She became his partner and was a highly respected sculptor herself. They collaborated on the Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar commemorative that was first issued in 1926. She designed the obverse and he the reverse. Fraser also designed the Victory Medal in 1919 celebrating the end of World War I as well as the Navy Cross. In 1915 he designed the End of the Trail, a piece for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. During the early 20th century, his style changed from impressionistic realism inherited from Saint-Gaudens to a more modern less complicated style. At the end of the World War I his attention turned to larger works, public monuments and architectural sculpture. His last major work was The Peaceful Arts for the Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C.

The Denver Mint struck its first coins in 1906. It is still operating and producing coins for circulation as well as commemorative and bullion coins. Coins produced at the Denver Mint bear a D mintmark, not to be confused with the D for the Dahlonega Mint, which operated in Georgia until 1861 when it was taken over by the Confederacy. The predecessors of the Denver Mint were the men of Clark Gruber and Company. During the Pikes Peak Gold Rush, they coined gold dust brought from the gold fields by the miners. For almost three years, they minted gold coins (186061) and ingots (1862). They were formally bought by the United States government in 1863. Established by an Act of Congress on April 21, 1862, the United States Mint at Denver opened for business in late 1863 as a United States Assay Office. Operations began in the facilities of Clark, Gruber and Company, located at 16th and Market Streets and acquired by the government for $25,000. In 1904 the government converted the Assay Office into a working mint. A large Italian Renaissance style building was erected. In its first year of operation, the new mint produced 167,371,035 gold and silver coins. Today the Mints output can exceed 50 million coins a day.

During the last few years of World War I, the Mint produced much larger quantities of cents and nickels. Many researchers believe that this increased production led to confusion at the Mint. A hub from 1917 was used for a 1918 one during the annealing process causing the overdate. It was not until the 1930s that this error was discovered, which explain why most 1918 overdates are found today in circulated condition. The same error was made on the 1942/1 Mercury Dime.