Coin specifications and design
Design identification
Obverse: Native American portrait.
Reverse: American bison.
U.S. Mint coin reference
Buffalo Nickel
Indian Head / Buffalo nickel design and series notes.
Buffalo Nickel history
The Buffalo nickel was introduced in 1913 as part of a broader effort to give U.S. coinage more distinctly American imagery. Sculptor James Earle Fraser placed a composite Native American portrait on the obverse and an American bison on the reverse. Early coins had the bison standing on a raised mound, but the reverse was quickly modified because the denomination and other details wore too rapidly. The design remained in use through 1938, when it was replaced by the Jefferson nickel.