Buffalo Nickel Dates & Mintmarks
All 64 issues of the series, 1913 through 1938. Officially the Indian Head nickel, designed by James Earle Fraser. The count includes six entries for 1913, because the Mint redesigned the reverse partway through the year and both types were struck at all three mints with separately reported mintages. No nickels at all were struck in 1922, 1932 and 1933.
No price guide, valuation or population count appears anywhere in this catalog: Coin Curator holds no licensed data for any of those. Key and semi-key date pages additionally carry recent eBay sold prices, which are records of completed sales rather than a valuation. How we work.
64
Date/mint combinations
0
Key dates
under 750k struck
7
Semi-keys
under 2.5M struck
3
Mints
P, D, S
| Date | Mint | Mintage | Rank | Tier | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1913-D Type 1 | Denver | 5,337,000 | 16 | Common date | — |
| 1913-D Type 2 | Denver | 4,156,000 | 11 | Common date | — |
| 1913-P Type 1 | Philadelphia | 30,992,000 | 51 | Common date | 1 documented variety · see note |
| 1913-P Type 2 | Philadelphia | 29,857,186 | 50 | Common date | 1 documented variety · see note |
| 1913-S Type 1 | San Francisco | 2,105,000 | 7 | Semi-key | — |
| 1913-S Type 2 | San Francisco | 1,209,000 | 3 | Semi-key | — |
| 1914-D | Denver | 3,912,000 | 10 | Common date | — |
| 1914-P | Philadelphia | 20,664,463 | 44 | Common date | 1,275 proofs · see note |
| 1914-S | San Francisco | 3,470,000 | 9 | Common date | — |
| 1915-D | Denver | 7,569,000 | 28 | Common date | — |
| 1915-P | Philadelphia | 20,986,220 | 45 | Common date | 1,050 proofs · see note |
| 1915-S | San Francisco | 1,505,000 | 5 | Semi-key | — |
| 1916-D | Denver | 13,333,000 | 40 | Common date | — |
| 1916-P | Philadelphia | 63,497,466 | 62 | Common date | 1 documented variety · 600 proofs · see note |
| 1916-S | San Francisco | 11,860,000 | 38 | Common date | — |
| 1917-D | Denver | 9,910,000 | 35 | Common date | — |
| 1917-P | Philadelphia | 51,424,019 | 58 | Common date | — |
| 1917-S | San Francisco | 4,193,000 | 12 | Common date | — |
| 1918-D | Denver | 8,362,000 | 31 | Common date | 1 documented variety · see note |
| 1918-P | Philadelphia | 32,086,314 | 52 | Common date | — |
| 1918-S | San Francisco | 4,882,000 | 14 | Common date | — |
| 1919-D | Denver | 8,006,000 | 30 | Common date | — |
| 1919-P | Philadelphia | 60,868,000 | 60 | Common date | — |
| 1919-S | San Francisco | 7,521,000 | 27 | Common date | — |
| 1920-D | Denver | 9,418,000 | 33 | Common date | — |
| 1920-P | Philadelphia | 63,093,000 | 61 | Common date | — |
| 1920-S | San Francisco | 9,689,000 | 34 | Common date | — |
| 1921-P | Philadelphia | 10,663,000 | 37 | Common date | — |
| 1921-S | San Francisco | 1,557,000 | 6 | Semi-key | — |
| 1923-P | Philadelphia | 35,715,000 | 54 | Common date | — |
| 1923-S | San Francisco | 6,142,000 | 21 | Common date | — |
| 1924-D | Denver | 5,258,000 | 15 | Common date | — |
| 1924-P | Philadelphia | 21,620,000 | 46 | Common date | — |
| 1924-S | San Francisco | 1,437,000 | 4 | Semi-key | — |
| 1925-D | Denver | 4,450,000 | 13 | Common date | — |
| 1925-P | Philadelphia | 35,565,100 | 53 | Common date | — |
| 1925-S | San Francisco | 6,256,000 | 22 | Common date | — |
| 1926-D | Denver | 5,638,000 | 19 | Common date | — |
| 1926-P | Philadelphia | 44,693,000 | 57 | Common date | — |
| 1926-S | San Francisco | 970,000 | 1 | Semi-key | — |
| 1927-D | Denver | 5,730,000 | 20 | Common date | — |
| 1927-P | Philadelphia | 37,981,000 | 56 | Common date | — |
| 1927-S | San Francisco | 3,430,000 | 8 | Common date | — |
| 1928-D | Denver | 6,436,000 | 23 | Common date | — |
| 1928-P | Philadelphia | 23,411,000 | 48 | Common date | — |
| 1928-S | San Francisco | 6,936,000 | 24 | Common date | — |
| 1929-D | Denver | 8,370,000 | 32 | Common date | — |
| 1929-P | Philadelphia | 36,446,000 | 55 | Common date | — |
| 1929-S | San Francisco | 7,754,000 | 29 | Common date | — |
| 1930-P | Philadelphia | 22,849,000 | 47 | Common date | — |
| 1930-S | San Francisco | 5,435,000 | 17 | Common date | — |
| 1931-S | San Francisco | 1,200,000 | 2 | Semi-key | — |
| 1934-D | Denver | 7,480,000 | 26 | Common date | — |
| 1934-P | Philadelphia | 20,213,003 | 43 | Common date | — |
| 1935-D | Denver | 12,092,000 | 39 | Common date | — |
| 1935-P | Philadelphia | 58,264,000 | 59 | Common date | — |
| 1935-S | San Francisco | 10,300,000 | 36 | Common date | — |
| 1936-D | Denver | 24,814,000 | 49 | Common date | 1 documented variety |
| 1936-P | Philadelphia | 118,997,000 | 64 | Common date | 4,420 proofs · see note |
| 1936-S | San Francisco | 14,930,000 | 41 | Common date | — |
| 1937-D | Denver | 17,826,000 | 42 | Common date | 1 documented variety · see note |
| 1937-P | Philadelphia | 79,480,000 | 63 | Common date | 5,769 proofs · see note |
| 1937-S | San Francisco | 5,635,000 | 18 | Common date | — |
| 1938-D | Denver | 7,020,000 | 25 | Common date | 1 documented variety |
Rank 1 is the lowest business-strike mintage in the series. Tiers are assigned from reported mintage alone: under 750,000 struck is a key date, under 2,500,000 a semi-key. The same thresholds apply to every series on this site, so tiers are comparable between them. That is a production measure, not a market judgement, and not a statement about how many survive.
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Common questions
How many Buffalo nickel dates and mintmarks are there?
64. That includes six entries for 1913: the Mint recessed the reverse ground partway through the year to stop FIVE CENTS wearing away, and the Type 1 and Type 2 coins from each of the three mints have separately reported mintages. No nickels at all were struck in 1922, 1932 and 1933, San Francisco struck none in 1934, Denver none in 1921, 1930 or 1931, and 1938 saw only a Denver issue before the Jefferson nickel replaced the design.
Which Buffalo nickel has the lowest mintage?
The 1926-S at 970,000, which is also the date most collectors treat as the series key. It was struck late in the year from worn dies and circulated immediately, so it is rare in mint state in a way the mintage alone understates. The 1931-S at 1,200,000 and the 1913-S Type 2 at 1,209,000 are next, though the 1931-S was widely saved at the time and is easier to find well preserved.
What is the difference between the 1913 Type 1 and Type 2?
The reverse. Type 1 shows the bison on a raised mound with FIVE CENTS on the mound itself, standing proud of the field where it wore away quickly. Partway through 1913 the Mint recessed the ground into a straight line and moved the denomination into the exergue below, protecting it. Every Buffalo nickel after 1913 uses the Type 2 reverse. Both types were struck at all three mints in 1913 and are collected as six separate issues.
Why do so many Buffalo nickels have no date?
Fraser placed the date on a raised shoulder of the obverse, where it took the full force of circulation. On Buffalo nickels the date wears away before almost anything else, which is why dateless examples are so common and why grades below Fine are often unattributable to a year at all. Two consequences follow for buyers: a readable date on a heavily worn coin is worth confirming rather than assuming, and acid-restored dates, which leave a dull pitted patch around the digits, are widespread. The grading services will not certify an acid-treated coin, so on scarce dates the certification record is doing real work.
What are the 1918/7-D and the 1937-D Three-Legged, and why do they not have their own entries?
The 1918/7-D is an overdate, struck from a 1918 die punched over a 1917 one. The 1937-D Three-Legged lost the bison's front leg when a mint employee over-polished a damaged die. Both are among the most sought-after coins in twentieth-century U.S. numismatics, and neither was ever reported separately by the Mint, because neither was an authorised issue. Their coins sit inside the 1918-D and 1937-D totals, so this catalog documents them as varieties of those issues. An entry exists here only where the production record gives one.
Why are the Philadelphia figures here lower than in some other tables?
Because some tables add that year's proofs into the Philadelphia business-strike figure. On all seven proof years the difference between the two published tables consulted is exactly the proof mintage. This catalog reports business strikes everywhere and shows proofs in their own field, which is consistent with every other series on the site.
Does Coin Curator publish Buffalo nickel values?
Not as a valuation. Key and semi-key date pages carry recent eBay sold prices: what certified examples actually sold for in the last 90 days, grouped by grade band, with the number of sales and the full range shown alongside each median. That is a record of completed sales, not a price guide, an appraisal, or a population and census count, none of which Coin Curator holds licensed data for. Common dates carry no sold data at all. Pages link to the grading services' own certification lookups and to marketplace searches so you can check current evidence yourself.
Mintage sources
Mintage figures are U.S. Mint production records, cross-checked against the published tables below on 2026-08-01. Where those tables disagree, the disagreement is disclosed on the affected page rather than resolved silently.
- LandOfCoins, Buffalo nickel mintage — Business strikes and proofs in separate columns. Used as the business-strike figures here.
- CoinMintages.com, Buffalo nickel mintages — Agrees on every branch-mint issue except the 1913-S Type 2. Its Philadelphia figures include that year's proofs.
- PCGS CoinFacts and dealer references, 1913-S Type 2 — Consulted to break the one disagreement between the tables above.
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