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Have you noticed that many precious metal rounds from different mints feature the same buffalo imagery? Take note of the few examples below: The Asahi Silver Round, Sunshine Minting Silver Round, the American Gold Buffalo, and Silvertowne Silver Buffalo Bar all have the same buffalo portrait. All the current buffalo bullion takes inspiration from one source, the buffalo nickel that circulated in the U.S. from 1914 to 1938. Also known as the Indian Head nickel from the portrait depicted on the obverse of the coin, the original artwork for the nickel was designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser. At the time, President Theodore Roosevelt felt dissatisfied with the current state of American coins; therefore, he hired Augustus Saint-Gaudens to redesign the coins. Augustus Saint-Gaudens designed two coins, the eagle and the double eagle, before he died in 1907. James Earle Fraser, an assistant to Saint-Gaudens, approached the mint for the opportunity to design the new nickel to replace the Liberty nickel in 1909 when it was eligible for redesign. Fraser was commissioned a year later and prepared the design based on the sketches of a buffalo and the head of an Indian he had submitted earlier.
   
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James Fraser claimed that the model and inspiration for his buffalo artwork was Black Diamond, an American Bison. Although he said this, many inconsistencies between Black Diamond and the buffalo were noted to appear on the final design. The placement of Black Diamond’s horns differs from the buffalo pictured on the coin. Fraser also claimed in an interview that the model was “the contrariest animal in the Bronx Zoo.” Black Diamond was never found in the Bronx Zoo because he was a buffalo from the Central Park Zoo. Black Diamond stayed in the Central Park Zoo his whole life until he was slaughtered.
Black Diamond was a popular attraction at the Central Park Zoo in New York. At the time, he was the largest buffalo kept in captivity, and visitors were interested in visiting the large but docile animal. By the time Black Diamond was 22, an age considered old for a buffalo, he was starting to fall sick. The menagerie that housed him did not want to pay the $50 fee (around $1591.41 today) required to wheel out his body when he died. Wanting to save on costs and to make some extra money to invest in the zoo, the menagerie decided to auction Black Diamond off. Although he was a popular attraction, no bids were received in the auction for him. He was privately purchased for slaughter by A. Silz, a game and poultry dealer. Black Diamond was sold for slaughter for around $300 (approximately $9548.47 today), which made headlines. Many articles were published, sensationalizing the news that a popular animal was being sold for slaughter. The news made rounds and managed to reach people who wanted to save Black Diamond from slaughter. Offers and bids up to $1000 (equivalent to $31,828.22 today) were put in to save Black Diamond, but the bids were all rejected. Black Diamond was slaughtered for meat in 1915 and yielded 750 pounds of usable meat, which sold for $2 ($63.66 today) a pound. The sensationalism of New York’s beloved buffalo being slaughtered for steaks made the news yet again and boosted the popularity of these “black diamond steaks.” Fred Santer, a taxidermist, was interested in mounting the deceased buffalo’s head. Black Diamond’s head is now a showpiece at coin conventions, a sight for collectors interested in coin history to appreciate.
Although James Fraser cited a singular source as his inspiration for the buffalo artwork, he had multiple different accounts when claiming his inspiration for the Indian head artwork on the reverse side of the coin. At first, in a note to the Mint Director at the time, he cited that he was inspired by the portraiture of several Indians he had done, and that the design was a mixture of features of the men he had drawn in the past. Two of the most memorable men to James were Iron Tail and Two Moons. When multiple different men had tried to come forward as the inspiration behind the Indian Nickel portrait, John Fraser wrote that three Indians had been the inspiration behind the nickel. He remembered Iron Tail the best, and Two Moons would come second. The third Indian was a Cheyenne named Two Moons, and the last source of inspiration James identified. Despite clarifying his source of inspiration, Fraser would continually receive questions from curious individuals about the real source of the model up until his death. Even after his death, different people came forward and claimed they were the direct model for the coin, such as John Big Tree, but they were all denied by the US Mint.
The buffalo nickels were officially released in 1913 and were popular with the general public because of their depiction of American themes. However, the production side of the coin was fraught with problems. The dies used to strike the nickels would break easily, and the date stamped on the reverse of the nickels would wear out easily with time. Many buffalo nickels that still exist today have the dates erased by the passage of time. When the mint announced a new nickel design competition 25 years later, the minimum circulation time for a new coin design, the buffalo nickel was unanimously agreed to be replaced. The buffalo design was replaced by the Jefferson nickel in 1938.
In 2001, a restrike of the buffalo nickel, the American Buffalo silver dollar, was released by the US mint in silver to honour the National Museum of the American Indian and the buffalo nickel design. The coin was subjected to a maximum mintage of half a million and sold out in just under 2 weeks. The buffalo nickel design would have another resurgence in 2006, when the United States Mint sought to create a pure gold coin to compete with the Canadian Maple Leaf. The Mint created the American Buffalo Gold Coin in 2006 based on a modified version of James Fraser’s original design for the buffalo nickel. The demand for these coins in 2008 reached such heights that the mint had to temporarily pause sales to keep up with production. In the present day, the buffalo nickel design is well regarded as one of the best-designed American coins in history and is used by many refiners as the image minted on specialty silver products.
Have you noticed that many precious metal rounds from different mints feature the same buffalo imagery? Take note of the few examples below: The Asahi Silver Round, Sunshine Minting Silver Round, the American Gold Buffalo, and Silvertowne Silver Buffalo Bar all have the same buffalo portrait. All the current buffalo bullion takes inspiration from one source, the buffalo nickel that circulated in the U.S. from 1914 to 1938. Also known as the Indian Head nickel from the portrait depicted on the obverse of the coin, the original artwork for the nickel was designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser. At the time, President Theodore Roosevelt felt dissatisfied with the current state of American coins; therefore, he hired Augustus Saint-Gaudens to redesign the coins. Augustus Saint-Gaudens designed two coins, the eagle and the double eagle, before he died in 1907. James Earle Fraser, an assistant to Saint-Gaudens, approached the mint for the opportunity to design the new nickel to replace the Liberty nickel in 1909 when it was eligible for redesign. Fraser was commissioned a year later and prepared the design based on the sketches of a buffalo and the head of an Indian he had submitted earlier.
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James Fraser claimed that the model and inspiration for his buffalo artwork was Black Diamond, an American Bison. Although he said this, many inconsistencies between Black Diamond and the buffalo were noted to appear on the final design. The placement of Black Diamond’s horns differs from the buffalo pictured on the coin. Fraser also claimed in an interview that the model was “the contrariest animal in the Bronx Zoo.” Black Diamond was never found in the Bronx Zoo because he was a buffalo from the Central Park Zoo. Black Diamond stayed in the Central Park Zoo his whole life until he was slaughtered.
Black Diamond was a popular attraction at the Central Park Zoo in New York. At the time, he was the largest buffalo kept in captivity, and visitors were interested in visiting the large but docile animal. By the time Black Diamond was 22, an age considered old for a buffalo, he was starting to fall sick. The menagerie that housed him did not want to pay the $50 fee (around $1591.41 today) required to wheel out his body when he died. Wanting to save on costs and to make some extra money to invest in the zoo, the menagerie decided to auction Black Diamond off. Although he was a popular attraction, no bids were received in the auction for him. He was privately purchased for slaughter by A. Silz, a game and poultry dealer. Black Diamond was sold for slaughter for around $300 (approximately $9548.47 today), which made headlines. Many articles were published, sensationalizing the news that a popular animal was being sold for slaughter. The news made rounds and managed to reach people who wanted to save Black Diamond from slaughter. Offers and bids up to $1000 (equivalent to $31,828.22 today) were put in to save Black Diamond, but the bids were all rejected. Black Diamond was slaughtered for meat in 1915 and yielded 750 pounds of usable meat, which sold for $2 ($63.66 today) a pound. The sensationalism of New York’s beloved buffalo being slaughtered for steaks made the news yet again and boosted the popularity of these “black diamond steaks.” Fred Santer, a taxidermist, was interested in mounting the deceased buffalo’s head. Black Diamond’s head is now a showpiece at coin conventions, a sight for collectors interested in coin history to appreciate.
Although James Fraser cited a singular source as his inspiration for the buffalo artwork, he had multiple different accounts when claiming his inspiration for the Indian head artwork on the reverse side of the coin. At first, in a note to the Mint Director at the time, he cited that he was inspired by the portraiture of several Indians he had done, and that the design was a mixture of features of the men he had drawn in the past. Two of the most memorable men to James were Iron Tail and Two Moons. When multiple different men had tried to come forward as the inspiration behind the Indian Nickel portrait, John Fraser wrote that three Indians had been the inspiration behind the nickel. He remembered Iron Tail the best, and Two Moons would come second. The third Indian was a Cheyenne named Two Moons, and the last source of inspiration James identified. Despite clarifying his source of inspiration, Fraser would continually receive questions from curious individuals about the real source of the model up until his death. Even after his death, different people came forward and claimed they were the direct model for the coin, such as John Big Tree, but they were all denied by the US Mint.
The buffalo nickels were officially released in 1913 and were popular with the general public because of their depiction of American themes. However, the production side of the coin was fraught with problems. The dies used to strike the nickels would break easily, and the date stamped on the reverse of the nickels would wear out easily with time. Many buffalo nickels that still exist today have the dates erased by the passage of time. When the mint announced a new nickel design competition 25 years later, the minimum circulation time for a new coin design, the buffalo nickel was unanimously agreed to be replaced. The buffalo design was replaced by the Jefferson nickel in 1938.
In 2001, a restrike of the buffalo nickel, the American Buffalo silver dollar, was released by the US mint in silver to honour the National Museum of the American Indian and the buffalo nickel design. The coin was subjected to a maximum mintage of half a million and sold out in just under 2 weeks. The buffalo nickel design would have another resurgence in 2006, when the United States Mint sought to create a pure gold coin to compete with the Canadian Maple Leaf. The Mint created the American Buffalo Gold Coin in 2006 based on a modified version of James Fraser’s original design for the buffalo nickel. The demand for these coins in 2008 reached such heights that the mint had to temporarily pause sales to keep up with production. In the present day, the buffalo nickel design is well regarded as one of the best-designed American coins in history and is used by many refiners as the image minted on specialty silver products.
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