1936 Indian Head Nickel

• 1936 Indian Head Nickel Price
• 1936 Indian Head Nickel No Mint Mark

The Buffalo or Indian Head Nickel coins were minted from 1913 to 1938 and in good quantity. The Buffalo nickel would enjoy a good run, but would eventually be replaced by the United States current nickel, the Jefferson Nickel. These coins like the other nickels are 75% copper and contain 25% nickel. Indian Head Nickels - Facts and Details This popular U.S. Coin features the image of an Indian chief on the obverse - reportedly a composite head of chiefs Iron Tail, Two Moons and John Big Tree.

I want to provide you with information on this historic coin even though it contains no silver. A small number of them can be quite valuable plus the images appearing on the obverse and reverse are among the best of any U.S. coin. Designed by James Earle Fraser (his initial F appears beneath the date) the nickel was struck from 1913 through 1938. A total of three U. S. Mints were involved in the production of the Buffalo Nickel: Denver; Philadelphia; and San Francisco.

1936 Indian Head Nickel Price

Indian Head Nickels - Facts and Details

This popular U.S. coin features the image of an Indian chief on the obverse - reportedly a composite head of chiefs Iron Tail, Two Moons and John Big Tree. The reverse features the image of an American Buffalo - assumed to be that of Black Diamond (a famous buffalo once a resident of the New York Zoological Gardens. The mint mark is on the reverse side below the buffalo and just under 'FIVE CENTS'. Mint marks are 'D' for Denver and 'S' for the San Francisco Mints. If no mint mark appears, it was minted in Philadelphia. Click on images for a larger view.

The Philadelphia mint produced more of these nickels in any given year than the Denver and San Francisco mints combined. The five highest mintage (most common) Buffalo nickels, all from Philadelphia are:
1936 - 118,997,000; 1937 - 79,840,000; 1920 - 63,093,000; 1919 - 60,868,000; 1935 - 58,264,000
The lowest mintage (least common) Buffalo nickels are all from the San Francisco mint. If you have any of the coins listed below and they are in decent condition, I would suggest you get an estimate of worth either from a few dealers at a coin show or from one or more local coin shops.
1926S - 970,000; 1931S - 1,200,000; 1913S* - 1,209,000; 1924S - 1,437,000; 1915S - 1,505,000
It should be noted that no nickels were produced in 1922. In 1938 only the Denver mint was producing Buffalo nickels (total of 7,020,000) as the Jefferson nickel was taking its place. A total of 28,977,000 Jefferson nickels were produced by all three mints in 1938. These are not rare.
*One variation of the 1913S is quite rare and could net you at least a few hundred dollars.

Buffalo Error Coins

Error coins are mistakes usually made by mint employees and/or the equipment they are using. There are a few Buffalo error coins that can be worth anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Probably the most famous one being the 1937D three-legged buffalo. The Denver mint released an unspecified number of Buffalo nickels in 1937 with one of the buffalo's front legs missing. Even in somewhat worn condition, it is worth a few hundred dollars.

The most valuable Buffalo error coin is the 1916 Double Die Obverse minted in Philadelphia. What this fancy term means is that the coin was double stamped on the obverse with the second stamping not quite matching the location of the first thereby creating a shadow on the 6. Worth a few thousand even in somewhat worn condition.

A more common situation with error coins is where a date number is over-stamped with another number. This true of the 1918D nickel where the 8 was stamped over the original 7. Worth several hundred dollars depending on condition. Another is the 1914 nickel where a 4 was stamped over the original 3. Worth at least a few hundred unless extremely worn.

If you have any of the above coins, I encourage you to get them evaluated by a precious metals professional. Not a pawn shop, not a jewelry store but someone who is a coin professional.

My Small Success Story

Whenever I receive change containing nickels, I always check them over to see if there are any WW II nickels. Issued from 1942-1945, these are the only U.S. nickels to contain silver - just a small amount (.0563 troy ounces) but enough to set aside and save. Imagine my surprise to receive a 1917S Buffalo nickel from a casino redemption machine (click on images for a larger view of this coin). The San Francisco nickels tend to be worth more as the mintage numbers are low - this one being 4,193,000. Not that rare but I ended up selling it on eBay for $25.00. Not a bad return. So keep your eyes open for such opportunities.

My Small Success Story

Whenever I receive change containing nickels, I always check them over to see if there are any WW II nickels. Issued from 1942-1945, these are the only U.S. nickels to contain silver - just a small amount (.0563 troy ounces) but enough to set aside and save. Imagine my surprise to receive a 1917S Buffalo nickel from a casino redemption machine (click on images for a larger view of this coin). The San Francisco nickels tend to be worth more as the mintage numbers are low - this one being 4,193,000. Not that rare but I ended up selling it on eBay for $25.00. Not a bad return. So keep your eyes open for such opportunities.

1936 Indian Head Nickel No Mint Mark