What's so special about "buffalo nickels?"

thanks Mandy, I have some of them, are they worth anything? (besides 5 cents I mean:))

The correct name for this coin series is the Five-Cent Indian Head, but the true Buffalo Nickel aficionado has a dislike for that name. It is, and always will be the Buffalo Nickel.

Like other collectable coin series, die varieties figure into the rarity ranking. Those are the special coins that come from a single set of dies – doubled dies, repunched mintmarks, abraded dies (die elements that have been abraded or polished off), and destructive dies (die cracks and cuds). Die varieties can range from commonly rare to extremely rare depending on the length of the die run (total number of coins struck), and the length of time between minting and when the die variety was discovered. The longer the time between the minting and the discovery, the fewer coins there will be in the total population and the less likely there will be high-grade specimens in large numbers.

The design of the Buffalo Nickel itself also factors into the rarity ranking. As early as April in 1913 the rapid wear in the area of “FIVE CENTS” on the reverse became evident, and the re-designed Type II reverse replace the Type I “Buffalo on the mound”. This solved the reverse wear problem, but the problem of the date wearing down too rapidly on the obverse was never addressed. This oversight has resulted in many millions upon millions of dateless Buffalo Nickels, mostly effecting the early to mid-dates; 1913-1927. Often, dateless buffalo nickels can have their dates “restored” by applying a ferric-chloride solution to the date area, and is commercially sold as Nic-A-Date