I am sometimes asked if any of the “Big Ones” ever turn up when I am searching through rolls. Collectors really want to know if any of the known, classic rarities are ever found as I am in pursuit of valuable coins as I search through rolls of coins that I obtain from local banks. My answer to this question is a resounding, YES, THEY ARE FOUND !!! and it is truly a FUN feeling of excitement when a fantastic find emerges from inside a roll of what should be very common coins!

In October of 2007, I was looking through some rolls of nickels that I had recently acquired from a local bank. The first unusual coin to emerge was a dateless Indian Head five-cent piece. I always get a kick out of finding any obsolete coinage in a roll so I was already grinning from ear to ear. The fact that this piece was dateless really didn’t matter to me, it was still fun!

What happened next was even more exciting! Also known as Buffalo nickels, another 1936 dated specimen was found in a roll. So, now there were two of these obsolete type coins on my table. Finally a third Buffalo nickel was found and it was dated 1937 D (Denver Mint). The mintmark, D can be found below the words FIVE CENTS in the exergue on the reverse of the coin.

1937 D Indian Head (Buffalo) Nickel - Mintmark

The 1937 D Indian head or Buffalo five-cent piece is famous for a very particular rarity. That is, of course, a coin known as the Three-legged Buffalo five cent piece. In the process of preparing or repairing a die, the die in the area of one of the bison’s legs was abraded in such away that the defining edges of the legs were merged into the field of the coin. The end result is that on the struck coin, the leg seems to have been removed.

I turned the coin in order to take a closer look at the reverse and I couldn’t believe my eyes! It sure looked to me like this Buffalo(Bison)was standing on three legs.

1937 D Three-Legged Buffalo Nickel

The next thing I had to do was to determine if this coin was genuine or one of many fakes that have been manufactured. Normal 1937 D nickels are often encountered that have been tampered with to make it appear as though the Buffalo had a leg missing.

Small Raised Diagnostic Marks

The first thing to look for as a diagnostic marker on a genuine coin is what looks like a line of raised dots from the middle of the bison’s belly to the ground. Not to sound crass, it is sometimes refered to as a peeing buffalo. This coin has the raised dots so I was halfway home on this one. The next thing to check is the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM seen above the buffaloes back. On a genuine example, the P of PLURIBUS and the U of UNUM do not touch the upper portion of the animal.

1937 D Three Legged Buffalo Nickel - E PLURIBUS UNUM

All the diagnostic markers were present on this coin and they were easy to identify as the coin is in Extremely Fine condition. Although I’ve been able to find some pretty amazing die varieties as I search through rolls of coins, I never expected that I could find this rarity in a roll of nickels that came from a local bank.

This coin was indeed the rare 1937 D Three-Legged Buffalo Nickel! I had hit the JACKPOT!