Buffalo nickel - centennial predictions

[RWB]

My dear Sir:

I notice in today’s papers the anticipated change in the five cent piece and forthwith send my emphatic protest. It is quite enough to have the Indian on the one cent piece. As for the five dollar gold piece that is too, too bad! The Indian will never be forgotten. All children of every class sometime or other wear an Indian suit, mimic war dances and pow wows.

 

If it is necessary to make a change could it not be as artistic as we have now!

 

I can fancy in A. D. 2012, a Continental traveler doing the United States and upon seeing the five cent piece with the Indian—soliloquizing, “So ziz was ze great Franklin MacVeagh. But, why did he wear so many ‘plumes’ in his chapeau;” and upon looking on the reverse side – “I wonder if zee people of that time rode that ferocious looking animal – .”

 

Please Mr. Secretary use your influence to have the Indian and the Buffalo placed somewhere else, than upon our nice little five cent piece.

Very truly yours,

Elizabeth Willard Lake (Philadelphia)

(Mrs. Orville B. Lake)

 

MacVeagh replied several days later in his best diplomatic style:

 

…I quite agree with you that if we are to make a change, the new piece should be at least as artistic as the old one but is this so very difficult? A coin to be artistic should be suggestive and in some sense characteristic of the country to which it belongs. This cannot be said of the present 5¢ piece. The Buffalo and the Indian are both peculiar to the United States, identified together with its past and worthy of such a memorial as an artistic coin would be. The merit of the idea seems to depend upon the ability of the artist to give us something distinctive, pleasing and of really national significance. Nothing has been determined upon but if such a result could be achieved we should count confidently upon your approval.

 

[Excerpt from "Renaissance of American Coinage 1909-1915," p.185]

[breakdown-migration]

Mrs. Lake could not have been more wrong, particularly about the Buffalo nickel, which should go down as the most American of all coins -- not to mention Fraser's greatest gift to the country, among all of his wonderful works.

 

And the Liberty nickel artistic? Hard to imagine someone holding that opinion.

[illini420]

Thanks for posting this, I remembered reading this in your Renaissance of American Coinage book and thought it was pretty funny how displeased Mrs. Lake was at the time with the new nickel. Of course today many more seem to prefer the Buffalo (Indian) Nickel over its predecessor, Barber's Liberty Nickel.

 

 

[RWB]

bump, as requested

[delta]

Many thanks for reposting this amusing anecdote, reminiscent of other wildly wrong assessments often quoted, and we can also guess that Mrs. Lake would be among those shouting at motorists to get a horse.

[Crohnos01]

Apparently the mint is set to issue a commemorative coin this year for the buffalo? I remember seeing somewhere that this was their intention anyway. Is anyone planning to pick one ( or more) up? I have a feeling the price point is going to be high enough that I am going to have to pass. I just would rather get a classic commemorative if push come to shove for the same $. The mint seems to be all about tackling the national debt by high profit margins on moderns these days.

[delta]

So far there's nothing announced along the lines of issuing a buffalo nickel centennial coin of any kind, other than perhaps doing something different with the usual gold buffalo produced yearly starting 2006, and there's no hint in the mint's 2013 product schedule anything relevant might be coming.

 

We already have the 2001 silver buffalos, for which the mint might best have waited until this year.

 

Apparently the mint is set to issue a commemorative coin this year for the buffalo? I remember seeing somewhere that this was their intention anyway. Is anyone planning to pick one ( or more) up? I have a feeling the price point is going to be high enough that I am going to have to pass. I just would rather get a classic commemorative if push come to shove for the same $. The mint seems to be all about tackling the national debt by high profit margins on moderns these days.

[e1cnr]

I predict they copy the design and make them in gold and silver .. oh wait...I mean platinum and copper.

[KeyMan64]

[James_OldeTowne]

I am intrigued that no "bison" were referenced within the exchange.

[Conder101]

If they do anything it will be with the gold buffalo program. They can't make a special coin, or a new buffalo nickel, or a silver version or any of the other things people keep suggesting without getting new legislation pushed through Congress. considering we are already part way through the centennial year and nothing has even been proposed I'd say chances look slim. You would also have the problem with the law that says there can't be more than two commemorative coin programs per year. 2013 is already full. On the other hand the mint already has the authorization to produce the gold buffalo and its fractions. And a special set of something already authorized doesn't require Congressional approval, (Such as the 20th anniversary sets, the 25th anniversary set, the special ASE set last year etc). So I think we will see a special set using the gold buffalo coins. Personally I think a good choice might be a special proof/reverse proof set of the 1/4 oz fractional gold buffalo. It gives you the special set, a fractional buffalo that hasn't been minted since 2008, a reverse proof that people seem to like so much, the 1/2 total weight keeps the price down to where more people can order one, and the 1/4 size is almost exactly the same size as the original buffalo nickel.

[RWB]

That's for 2113 -- for the "bison-tennial."

[James_OldeTowne]

That's for 2113 -- for the "bison-tennial."

Love it!