And how to distinguish it from the more famous 1937-D 3-legged nickel.
How do these errors happen? Employees at the U.S. Mint polish coin dies so that fields attain a reflective surface and devices, a sharper strike. The polished die allows for a cleaner strike with the planchet and also helps reduce wear on the die so that it can be used longer.
That last attribute, a longer die life, is the reason that two Buffalo nickels are missing part or all of its foreleg because press operators neglected to replace dies.
Buffer personal at the Denver mint in 1936 over-polished the nickel, resulting in the buffalo on the reverse losing part of its foreleg.
Photo compliments PCGS CoinFacts
A year later, a press operator at the Denver facility used a polishing rod to remove clash marks instead of replacing the dies, resulting in the buffalo losing all of its foreleg except the hoof.
Here is a comparison between the two error nickels:
Initially, numismatists believed only 40 of the 3 1/2 leg nickel were minted, but people keep finding them in change and bank rolls. PCGS has authenticated more than 200. They are still out there.
So are possibly hundreds of the 1937-D 3-legged nickels because as many as 20,000 of those left the mint before the die was changed.
Values for the 1936-D error are in the thousands for worn coins earning grades between F12 and EF45. Prices jump dramatically in higher grades.
Values for the 1937-D error are in the hundreds between F12 and EF45. Thereafter prices ascend to the thousands in higher grades.
Check PCGS CoinFacts for current auction prices.
Because of the coins’ values, however, both are prone to alteration. In the case of the 1936-D 3 legs, scammers whizz off part of the foreleg. Sometimes mere wear on the reverse of the coin fools hobbyists who think they have found the rarity but actually only found a low value regular strike.
Scammers alter the foreleg of a well struck 1937-D, but forget that a new die was used, resulting in different placements of “e Pluribus Unum.” The motto touches the back of the buffalo in the altered coin. The authentic 3 legged has space between the motto and the buffalo back.
You can read more about the 1937-D 3-legged nickel by clicking here.
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