It wasn't often that a kid of the 60's had change in his pocket. At least it wasn't often that I did. Come to think of it, I'm short of cash right now.
Some things never change.
But go back to 1967, and if a fortunate youngster found himself with a chunk of change in his pocket, the odds were pretty favorable that among the coinage was a Buffalo Nickel or two.
I capitalize the name out of regard to the greatest coin ever minted in US history, IMHO, as well as the opinions of millions of other fans.
And once upon a time, long years ago, the Buffalo Nickel was common coinage in the US.
We have Teddy Roosevelt to thank for the beautiful, timeless design of the nickel, which paid homage both to the native American and the bison, both of which were once commonplace across the vast, free plains of pre-Columbian North America.
Roosevelt was not a fan of the Liberty head nickel in usage when he assumed the office of President. He found its simplistic design ugly, and was also unimpressed with its relatively flat relief. So in 1911, he authorized the head of the US Mint to hire James Earle Fraser to design a radically new nickel.
Fraser used a composite of countenances from three different Indians: Iron Tail, Two Moons and John Big Tree. He created the dignified, proud image that would adorn the nickel's obverse during its lifetime from 1913 to 1938. And on the reverse side, of course, was the magnificent buffalo.
By 1880, the beast was nearly extinct. Fortunately, a concerted effort was made to preserve the few that were left. In 1911, the numbers of bison were perhaps 2,000 (down from 100 million). Legend has it that Fraser used Black Diamond, who lived at the Central Park Zoo, as his inspiration for his artwork.
The nickel had some growing pains. The original design put the the value at a high raised point, which meant that it wore down very quickly. Fraser redesigned the coin during its first year to lower FIVE CENTS' position. The date was placed on a similar high spot, but that was never addressed. Thus, heavily worn examples are truly timeless, showing no date at all.
I remember my sweet grandmother giving me a box full of nickels that she had accumulated over the years when I was perhaps six years old. I was pleased to find a passel of Buffalo Nickels in the mix. Of course, being a kid with a sweet tooth, I wasn't pleased enough to hang on to any of them. Thus, I contributed to the fact that there were still quite a few Buffalo Nickels in circulation in the 60's, some thirty years after the design was discontinued.
But little by little, they were grabbed up and stuck in sock drawers. Supposedly, one in 25,000 nickels in circulation today is a genuine Buffalo, according to Wikipedia.
There has been clamoring for reissuing the much-beloved design almost since its initial discontinuation. While the US Mint has resisted the reinstatement of the original coin, in 2005 Boomers were delighted to find in their pocket change a new nickel with a buffalo on its reverse, commemorating the westward expansion of Lewis and Clark.
They were grabbed up by collectors in short order, but there are still quite a few kicking around.
Perhaps one day the classic design of Fraser will again see light. Who knows, maybe President Obama has some sweet memories of discovering a Buffalo Nickel in his own 1960's pocket change.
Comments (4)
My dad owned a couple of small stores so I got to comb through the change in the cash register. As a kid I found buffalo nickels as well as silver quarters (before they added other metals) and lots of interesting foreign coins. I became a coin collector based on that experience.
Posted by Rhea | February 18, 2009 9:26 AM
Posted on February 18, 2009 09:26
I am always pulling “Wheat Cents” and various oddities/foreign coins/slugs from change – the most recent find was a rusted 1943 steel cent – worth 1 penny but it is now out of circulation. Last year I got a 1941 quarter and a couple of war nickels (1944-D and P) along with about 10 wheat cents including a 1910. In the last few years I found a standing liberty quarter (date worn off), a barely readable 1937 subject of this piece, a 1967 IRJFK half dollar, a Mercury dime, a couple of silver Roosevelt dimes and a number of wheats. Occasionally I have received several wheats in a single change transaction and assume some child had purloined a parent’s pennies from their cache of nostalgic coins. In the ‘80s at a small store I received 2 Barber dimes 1898-P and a 1902-O (minted in New Orleans) I asked the clerk, a teen aged boy, if he had any more like them (he assumed they were Canadian) by alas no others were apparent. When it comes to odd change (including Silver Certificate Bills) the Buck Stops Here.
Ron - how 'bout a piece on Wooden Nickels?
Posted by Burt | February 18, 2009 7:26 PM
Posted on February 18, 2009 19:26
Ah yes! The Buffalo Nickels! Liberty Dimes, Wheat Cents and Franklin Half Dollars! What happened to them all! Oh yeah, Probably in some dealers collection now. Does anyone have the WW2 steel cents?
Posted by Riversend | February 18, 2009 8:57 PM
Posted on February 18, 2009 20:57
I recall it not being uncommon to find Indian/Buffalo nickels in the 60s. I would find them at the lake in the water or similar places like that. You might come across one in circulation sometimes. Indeed, buffalo nickels were synonymous with being alive in the 60s. “Wheaties” were common, even in the 70s. And if you were there, you know why we love anything that reminds us of “home.” We loved every little thing that made that decade so unique and wonderful.
But some other thoughts also occurred to me reading Ron’s article. The school pictures I have collected of my classmates and ages near to me show a trend from the 50s to the 70s. Kids in the 50s were rather plainly dressed. Spare money? There was none. But people lived within their means and were not in debt. Kids didn’t have lots of disposable income and markets did not cater to kids like they do to day because the money was not there. THIS WAS A VERY PROMINENT FEATURE OF THE 1960s and earlier.
In Greater Portland Maine, most housing was cheap. “Poor” people and lowly paid people lived all around. No place really had that much for well kept and decorated houses and yards. Kids still didn’t have that much money available to them. Then came the God forsaken 80s, which was just the start. It took a while but by the late 80s, the poor did not live near the city. They moved out into the “cheap” “affordable” rural sabot half an hour to an hour outside of city limits. Taxes were cheap, roads not crowded with traffic jams and gas still seemed affordable. Ah, but things sure changed.
Taxes went up, Gas went up, and many more wives went to work and kids began to get cars in High School and would drive to school, rather than take the bus with the common folk. And then the “rich” (sort of) decided they wanted to move out in the boonies as well. Then came the damned out of state-ers with their big money and drove everything right through the roof. Nothing was affordable in Southern Maine.
At first, it wasn’t that noticeable but in the 90s, it got more pronounced and by the late 90s, S. Maine was a different place in every way.
The main point here is that suddenly kids had loads of income and expectations as well. I ask, how did they get it? Where did they get it. Answer? From boomer parents who had none of the benefits they were showering their spoiled darlings with. They didn’t want their kids to suffer neglect the way they did. They wanted their kids to have all the head starts and benefits they did not. And the kids got the impression that the world revolved around them. And then we even stopped traffic for teenage kids so they could get off the bus in safety, I guess cause they didn’t have enough brains to even be able to negotiate traffic at 13 or 14.
My, how the mighty have fallen. Isn’t it ironic that it was the baby boomers who had the real advantages. They were not spoiled and they had realistic expectations, attitudes, ambitions. Now kids all think they will be stars or something glorious and rich. Kids expect and believe it is the duty of parents to make sure they have everything and lack nothing, want for nothing. Boomers for got to teach values. They did not realize that experiencing both sides of life is very important to character development. Further, boomers no longer lived within their means.
They would any price for what they wanted. $5 for a coffee. Fine! Just give it to me and fast. $200,000 for a home where they used to be $15,000 or $20,000. No problem. Its my right and I got to have it or I am a complete failure, a pussy and maybe even gay. What will people think??? In fact, the boomers seemed to forget everything they had ever learned, it they were even taught to begin with. Could it be that care free land of plenty we were raised in? Did our expectations get too high? Did we, too, get spoiled. I can see no other conclusion.
But now we have another depression to maybe sober us up and teach us a few things before we finally cash out. Lets hope so. The 60s was a great time. But the 60s changed to the 90s. It is time to re-evaluate, even as a football team trailing at half time might do to turn their game around.
But if we don’t, what a tragedy to grow up in such a beautiful time and have nothing better to show from it than complete loss of our Constitutional Rights, our means of living which we allowed to be sent overseas, and everything we had ever known. We will be the ones on whose watch it all went to hell. We will be like the first Americas Cup defenders to lose the cup. With great privilege comes great responsibility. (Thanks Spiderman ;-) We had a lot and we owe a lot to those who came before us. Just something to think about. What will our legacy be???
Posted by Scott Irv | June 18, 2009 6:12 PM
Posted on June 18, 2009 18:12