BUFFALO NICKELS
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1937-D
"Three-Legged" Buffalo Nickel 5 cent Piece
(This article is presented by Mike Wallace -
copyright 1997 by Mike Wallace)
This is one of the most curious and
sought after varieties in numismatics. On occasion, the
obverse and reverse dies will come into contact with one
another without a planchet between them. As a result, the
dies will leave their impressions on one another. This is
called "die clash". In order to remove the
clash marks, an emery stick is used on the face of the
die. In this particular incident, the mint employee used
a bit too much elbow grease and polished off the Bison's
right front legWhen purchasing one of
these coins, one must be very cautious. Numerous altered
coins exist where the unscruplous person ground off the
leg on a normal 1937-D Buffalo 5 cent. Three diagnostics to
look for on a genuine "3-Legged" 5 cent are: 1)
The right rear leg is weak and very ragged due to heavy
polishing. 2) The "P" & "U" of
"Pluribus Unum" are seperated more from the
Bison's back than on a normal coin. 3) There is a series
of raised dots from the Bison's belly to the ground.
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