page_title: Nickel (United States coin)
section_title: Design and name
hierarchical_section_title: Nickel (United States coin) / Buffalo or Indian Head (1913–1938) / Design and name
caption_attribution_description: English: Image with autograph and thumbprint for Chief Iron Tail, a model for the Buffalo Nickel
context_page_description: A nickel is a five-cent coin struck by the United States Mint. Composed of 75% copper and 25% nickel, the piece has been issued since 1866. Its diameter is .835 inches and its thickness is .077 inches. Due to inflation, the purchasing power of the nickel continues to drop, and currently the coin represents less than 1% of the federal hourly minimum wage. In 2018, over 1.26 billion nickels were produced at the Philadelphia and Denver mints.
  The silver half dime, equal to five cents, had been issued since the 1790s. The American Civil War caused economic hardship, driving gold and silver from circulation; in response, in place of low-value coins, the government at first issued paper currency. In 1865, Congress abolished the five-cent fractional currency note after Spencer M. Clark, head of the Currency Bureau, placed his own portrait on the denomination. After the successful introduction of two-cent and three-cent pieces without precious metal, Congress also authorized a five-cent piece consisting of base metal; the Mint began striking this version in 1866.
  The initial design of the Shield nickel was struck from 1866 until 1883, then was replaced by the Liberty Head nickel.
context_section_description: The identities of the models for the Native American on the obverse and for the bison on the reverse are not known with certainty. Fraser stressed that the Indian was a type, rather than based on a specific individual, and identified various Native Americans as models, not always consistently, including Iron Tail, Two Moons, and Big Tree (of the Kiowa people). There have been other claimants, the most prominent being John Big Tree, a Seneca, who made many public appearances as the "nickel Indian" until his death in 1967. Fraser recounted that the animal on the reverse was an American bison, Black Diamond, whom he stated lived at the Bronx Zoo, and also described the model simply as a bison at the Bronx Zoo. However, Black Diamond was never at the Bronx Zoo, but instead lived at the Central Park Zoo (both facilities are in New York City) until the animal was sold and slaughtered in 1915. The placement of the horns on the still-extant mounted head of Black Diamond differs from that of the bison on the nickel.
  From its inception, the coin was referred to as the "Buffalo nickel", reflecting the common name for the bison. The numismatic publication with the greatest circulation, Coin World, calls it an Indian head nickel, while R.S. Yeoman's Red Book refers to it as "Indian Head or Buffalo".
caption: Chief Iron Tail, circa 1912
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