Buffalo Nickels

[dclevinger]

All this talk about hobo nickels and sculpting and such has gotten me very interested to doing some nickel carving. Where is a good source for buffalo nickels? Also, what should one look for when buying a nickel to cut? Are there any to stay away from? Thanks. David

 

[Peter E]

Probably best to stay away from the 'wooden nickels'

I couldn't resist that one!

 

[dclevinger]

I tried one of the wooden ones already, just ended up with a bunch of splinters.

 

[Billzach]

David, i,ve found that ebay is the best place to buy buffalo nickels, i would start with low grade nickels . Then after you get your skills build up you,ll need to carve on full horn buffalo nickels...Just a reminder, there is a demand for detailed newer nickel carvings, wheat pennies, quarters, etc. also i carve about 15 highly detailed silver dollars a year, plus i,ve used a $20 gold coin..

 

[dclevinger]

Thanks Bill. I'll get a few and start playing around. As soon as I get one done I'll post a pic. Thanks again.

 

[Peter E]

Billzach,
I would love to see a pic of the gold coin that you carved if that is possible. In my opinion the $20 St. Gaudens is about the most beautiful coin there is. The $10 Indian isn't too bad either.

Peter

 

[Sandy]

A few weeks ago I found a large amount of Buffalo nickels in a pawn shop in Kansas City. They were 25 cents each. They are not coin collector type but they will do to learn how to carve a nickel. You might check the shops in the Denver area.

 

[Sam]

You should be able to find 'clear date' buffalo nickels for around 50-cents ea. Clear date means that the nickel is worn but the date is still readable. Like Bill said, as your skills improve you'll want to use finer grade coins to compliment the better quality engraving.

 

[Billzach]

While this is not a stead-fast rule, a subject carved on a poor grade coin might only be worth $100 to a collector, while if it was carved on a xf or au coin would be worth $500..The exception to this rule is when you are going to carve a double sided carving , then the full horn doesn,t mean anything, since you,ll be cutting it off..[ps] i just carved two double sided carvings for a collector last week, i,ll post a picture of one later tonight.

 

[Sandy]

How clear of a date do you need. Here is an example of the ones I was talking about.

 

[dclevinger]

Bill, Sandy and Sam, thank you very much. This oughta be fun. David

 

[Doc Mark]

Hey guys, your right! All this talk about carvin' nickels got me rummaging through an old coin collection my wife inherited. There were 23 buffalo nickels, all pretty worn. As was asked before, how clear must the date be to be considered worth the effort? I noticed on the coins I found, none have full horn showing.

Is it an unforgivable sin to "restore" the date and "liberty" slightly to make then more readable? If nothing else, I have several "practice plate" nickels to play with.

Mark

 

[Billzach]

Mark, i,m not sure what a collector thinks about someone restoring or making the dates and lettering more readable, but it sure would advance your carving skills by doing it for practice...i watch for nice full horn buffalo nickels on ebay and get them for about $3 a piece, which is a small price.. there are thousands of buffalo nickels on ebay every night.one other thing about buffalo nickels, a good date to carve is the 1913, but the dates will be weak on these many times , but they,ll have have a full horn..

 

[Sam]

Doc: I've recut dates plenty of times. It's nice if you can leave the date unaltered, but there's no rule that says you can't touch it up if need be. I think it's better to have recut lettering than severly worn lettering. On a pristine nickel I'd avoid that, but on a worn one I wouldn't hesitate.

 

[Marcus Hunt]

I wish I could get $500 for my carvings! LOL.......I found it best not to think of the financial reward but to carve for the fun and love of it. Its easier than cutting steel at least and when you find you have a few there might be someone out there who'd like to give you a few bucks for your efforts. Now......when we get to Bill's standard that's a different story. I'm hot on your heels Bill.....(in realitity...huffing and puffing after you!) I've tried to up my standard now that I'm getting to grips with the medium.

cheers,
Marcus

ps....I'm sure a lot of us are bidding against each other on Ebay. What we need is a central source of good coins. How can we avoid bidding each other up? Any ideas?

 

[coincutter]

Sandy
Flip the coin over
and lets see it
if that back looks as good as the front you did real well on you buy because that looks like a real good nickel from here.