Coin specifications and design
Design identification
Obverse: Native American portrait.
Reverse: American bison.
U.S. Mint coin reference
1913: Buffalo Nickel (Type 1: Indian Head / Bison on Raised Mound)
Indian Head / Buffalo nickel design and series notes.
1913: Buffalo Nickel (Type 1: Indian Head / Bison on Raised Mound) history
The first Buffalo nickels place the bison on a raised mound with FIVE CENTS below. Rapid wear threatened the denomination and mound, so the reverse was revised during 1913.
This first-year subtype was struck at Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco. The mound shape, placement of FIVE CENTS, date, and mintmark separate it from the recessed-ground Type 2 design.