History of the Buffalo Nickel:
The
Buffalo nickel or Indian Head nickel is a copper-nickel five-cent piece
that was struck by the United States Mint from 1913 to 1938. It was
designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser. As part of a drive to beautify
the coinage, five denominations of US coins had received new designs
between 1907 and 1909. In 1911, Taft administration officials decided to
replace Charles E. Barber's Liberty Head design for the nickel, and
commissioned Fraser to do the work. They were impressed by Fraser's
designs showing a Native American and an American bison. The designs
were approved in 1912, but were delayed several months because of
objections from the Hobbs Manufacturing Company, which made mechanisms
to detect slugs in nickel-operated machines. The company was not
satisfied by changes made in the coin by Fraser, and in February 1913,
Treasury Secretary Franklin MacVeagh decided to issue the coins despite
the objections.