1918/7-D 5C MS(PCGS#3939)
1918/7-D 5C MS (PCGS#3939)
November 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins
- 拍卖行
- Stack's Bowers
- 批号
- 2031
- 等级
- AU58+
- 价格
- 273,041
- 详细说明
- This is an exceptionally high grade example for this elusive and conditionally challenged Buffalo nickel overdate. Both sides are toned with appealing rose and champagne-pink highlights on warm blue-gray patina. The surfaces are pleasingly smooth and the often seen pattern of die erosion is present around the peripheries on both sides. Even so, the focal devices in and around the centers are rather well defined, and the all-important 7 underdigit is bold and readily evident. Close inspection with a loupe also reveals evidence of light strike doubling (a.k.a. shelf or bounce doubling) on the digits in the date and letters in the word LIBERTY.<p>This overdate is a result of the United States' insatiable demand for circulating minor coins during the final two years of World War I. There was a nationwide shortage of cents and nickels in 1917 and 1918 that resulted in large output of these denominations. During the final quarter of 1917 the engraving department at the Philadelphia Mint was busy producing dies for both 1917- and 1918-dated coinage. One of the obverse dies for the Buffalo nickel received its first impression from a 1917-dated hub, but the second impression came from a 1918-dated hub. This die was then shipped west for use in the Denver Mint, where it produced an unknown, yet presumably small number of 1918/7-D nickels.<p>Most known examples of 1918/7-D were retrieved from circulation many years after the coins were produced, and today the majority of certified pieces are confined to the lowest grades on the numismatic scale (Good and VG are typical). Survivors grading Fine or better are decidedly in the top half of the extant population, while in premium quality AU-58+ the present offering certainly numbers among our finest for this overdate in recent memory. A fleeting bidding opportunity for the advanced Buffalo nickel or variety collector to add an important condition rarity to their collection.