1931-S Buffalo Nickel
Semi-keyThe only Buffalo nickel struck in 1931, and the only one struck anywhere between 1930 and 1934. Its low mintage was widely publicised at the time and many were saved, so it is more available in mint state than the figure suggests.
Mintage
- Business strikes
- 1,200,000
- Mint
- San Francisco (S)
- Mintage rank
- 2 of 64
Rank 1 is the lowest business-strike mintage in the series. Mintage is what the Mint produced, not what survives. These circulated for decades as everyday money, and on this design the date wore off before almost anything else, so a large share of what survives cannot be attributed to a year at all.
Reading the figure
Among the 22 San Francisco issues in the series it is the 2nd smallest. It is the only issue of the series struck in 1931. The series median is 9,418,000, so fewer than half as many of these were struck as a typical date. Series-wide output fell that year: 1,200,000 against 28,284,000 in 1930. 1931 was the smallest production year of the entire series. In 1931 the coin was struck at San Francisco; Philadelphia and Denver struck none.
Every sentence above is computed from the mintage table on this page, not asserted separately.
Scarcity tier
Semi-key
Assigned from reported mintage alone: under 750,000 is a key date, under 2,500,000 is a semi-key.
This is a reproducible label derived from the mintage column, not a market valuation and not a Coin Curator price opinion. The same thresholds apply to every series on this site. Several dates are far harder or far easier to obtain than their mintage implies; where that is true, it is stated above.
The date wears off first. Fraser placed the date on a raised shoulder of the obverse, where it took the full force of circulation. Read the full note on the series page.
What to check before buying
Nothing about this date calls for a check beyond the ones that apply to any certified coin.
And for any certified coin
Verify the certification number on the grading service’s own lookup rather than from a photograph of the label, match the listing images to the certification record including grade and any variety attribution, look for cleaning, compare the mintmark against published photographs of the genuine issue, and read the return policy before buying. The grading guide covers each of these in full.
Coin Curator does not grade, authenticate, or appraise coins, and publishes no price or population data. These are verification steps, not a valuation.
Verify a certification number
Look a 1931-Scertification number up on the service’s own site. A photograph of a label proves nothing.
Each service publishes its own guarantee with conditions and exclusions. Compare PCGS, NGC and ANACS.
Find a 1931-S for sale
Opens an eBay search for this exact date and mint. Coin Curator does not list inventory, hold stock, or quote prices; verify each listing, seller, and return policy directly.
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Common questions
How many 1931-S Buffalo nickels were minted?
The San Francisco Mint struck 1,200,000 1931-S Buffalo nickels for circulation. That is the 2nd lowest business-strike mintage of the 64 date and mintmark combinations in the series.
Is the 1931-S Buffalo nickel a key date?
Coin Curator labels it a semi-key, assigned from reported mintage alone: under 750,000 struck is a key date and under 2,500,000 is a semi-key. The same thresholds are used for every series on this site, so the tiers are comparable between them. That label describes production, not market value or how hard the coin is to find today. The only Buffalo nickel struck in 1931, and the only one struck anywhere between 1930 and 1934. Its low mintage was widely publicised at the time and many were saved, so it is more available in mint state than the figure suggests.
What should I check before buying a 1931-S Buffalo nickel?
Verify the certification number on the grading service's own lookup page, match the listing photographs to the certification record, check for cleaning, and compare the mintmark shape and position against published photographs of the genuine issue.
Related dates
Guides for this coin
All guides →Buffalo Nickel Key Dates & Varieties
1913-1938. James Earle Fraser design. Half a dozen famous key dates, two iconic die varieties (Three-Legged Buffalo, Two-Feathers), and one of the most beloved aesthetics in US coinage.
2 min readEducationError Coins: Types, Attribution, and Verification
Learn the difference between off-center strikes, doubled dies, mules, broadstrikes, and post-mint damage, plus the records to check before buying.
1 min readBuying GuideMS-63 vs MS-65 vs MS-67: Which Grade to Actually Buy
Adjacent grades can carry very different market evidence. Learn how to compare surfaces, eye appeal, population data, and current records before choosing a grade.
1 min readEducationPCGS vs NGC vs ANACS: Which Grading Service for Coins?
Compare PCGS, NGC, and ANACS by current service terms, holder and guarantee limitations, verification tools, and the needs of the particular coin.
1 min readMintage 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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