Monday, October 12, 2009

Buffalo nickel

They stopped making these in 1938. This one was minted in 1923, a year before my mother was born.

You could buy an apple for a nickel back then. Baldwin was still the most popular apple in America.

These coins were growing scarce when I was a kid. I remember being amazed when I got one in change back in the 1980s.

So today I bought some of apples, including some promising heirlooms, from Volante Farms. (You have to love this time of year.) I gave the man a ten and got back a single and some change, including this guy.

How many of these are still in circulation? What are the odds?

2 comments:

  1. Cool! According to this site, http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_value_of_a_1923_buffalo_nickel, that nickel is worth $2-$5!

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  2. A windfall if true, von K, but the coin is in terrible shape, so probably not. The date can barely be deduced at all from the tiny fragment that is not worn completely smooth.

    We do know it is worth five cents. I value it as a friendly omen, a pentimento of the past like the Opalescents and other old varieties I bought when I got the nickel in change.

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