The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 11, March 13, 2005, Article 5

BUFFALOED?

Jeff Starck of Sidney, OH writes: "I couldn't help but send this,
an "Appreciations" item in the March 6 New York Times, by
Verlyn Klinkenborg."

[I've always enjoyed reading contemporary criticisms of
new coin designs. This one is headlined "The (Old) Buffalo
Nickel" -Editor]

"Last week, the United States Mint released a new nickel,
the third in its Westward Journey series. On the obverse is
a portrait of Thomas Jefferson, who seems to loom into the
porthole of the coin. The word "Liberty" appears in a
facsimile of Jefferson's handwriting and is dwarfed by "In
God We Trust." On the reverse, a bison stands on a small
patch of prairie, fenced in by the words "United States of
America," which nearly surround him. It is perhaps a
meaningless artifact of design that this bison is facing to the
right.

The new buffalo nickel is, of course, meant to recall the
old buffalo nickel, which was minted in Philadelphia, Denver
and San Francisco between 1913 and 1938. That nickel
was one of the most attractive coins ever issued in this
country."

"The mint distributed more than 1.2 billion of those nickels,
and they have nearly all been retired. But even in the early
1960's, you could still find a buffalo nickel in your change
from time to time. It was always an occasion to stop and
look closely. This was a coin that worked in a purely
iconographic fashion. It had a visual economy that is still
moving. In the face of that Indian and the somber mass
of that bison, you can visualize the tragic undertone of
American history. To come upon a buffalo nickel - one
of the old ones - in your pocket was to come upon a
work of art."

To read the original article, see: Full Story

[Everyone's a critic when a new coin hits the scene. I
wonder what people had to say when Fraser's "Buffalo"
nickel debuted in 1913. Does anyone have a contemporary
critique of that coin? -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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