1927 Buffalo Nickel

In The Complete Guide to Buffalo Nickels, author David W. Lange sums up the 1927(P) nickel as follows: "Well struck coins are the norm for this issue, but no Buffalo Nickel coined 1918 and later will have the sharpness of well struck coins from earlier years. The master hubs for this type gradually became worn, a process accelerated by the high mintages of 1916-20."

1927(P) nickels are plentiful across most grades, with a number of truly outstanding pieces known. Five examples were certified by NGC as Specimen (SP) coins, and it's believed that these were test pieces struck from chromium-plated dies. Such experiments were recorded in the Mint Director's Report for Fiscal Year 1928, though nothing was specifically mentioned regarding which coins were involved.

A minor doubled-die obverse variety is noted, but this is of little interest to most collectors.