Under a great deal of stress to meet the demand for small coinage in
1937 the
mint was working at incredible speeds. At
Denver a
press operator named Mr. Young (a new employee) was busy at work making
nickels when the
dies came together without a blank between them. These clash dies should have been replaced, but Mr. Young pulled out an emery stick and sanded the clash marks off the dies. In doing so he removed one of the front legs of the Buffalo. This
error, which can be chalked up to inexperience or the desire not to fall behind, was not discovered right away, and many left the
mint in sealed mint bags. While many fakes exist, all original coins come from Mr. Young’s single pair of dies, and contain a raised line of dots from the middle of the buffalo's belly to the ground, making it appear as if he is answering the call of nature. On 11/27/90 one in Uncirculated condtion (MS-63) sold at auction for $3,850.
First let me warn you this will be a VERY SIMPLIFIED lesson on how to grade a Buffalo Nickel, but with that said I hope it’s helpful.
If you want details information on grading nickels the ANA Grading Guide
Uncirculated
No traces of wear
About Uncirculated
Head near the horn shown slight wear
Extremely Fine
Horn and hair on obverse worn but complete
Very fine
Horn worn but the tip is visible, hair on obverse flat
Fine
Horn and tail smooth but ¾ there
Very Good
Horn is nearly flat but is partially there
Good
No horn
About Good
Date very weak letters merged into rim
No Date- don’t worry these coins are still desirable, and find their way into jewelry.