In early 1962, C.G. Langworthy and Robert Kerr found a very strange 1938-D Buffalo nickel. Under magnification there clearly appeared an “S” mintmark peeking out from beneath the “D!” This was truly one-of-a-kind. They had never heard of such a coin before. Later they found a second one.
Not believing their eyes, the two gentlemen contacted Margo Russell, editor of Coin World. In those days, that weekly newspaper, which had begun in 1960, lacked extensive research files. Margo called upon me to examine and verify the nickel, as she had done with other coins before.
I, too, could not believe my eyes, at least at first. The two mintmarks were each clear. The whole story was written up in the September 14, 1962 issue of Coin World. No one knew whether the 1938-D/S over mintmark, as it came to be known, was an extreme rarity worth a small fortune, or whether others would be found.
As to why such a coin was made, the story is likely this:
In 1938 the Buffalo/Indian Head nickel design had been in use since 1913. The Mint decided to change the motif, and a nationwide competition was held to create what became the Jefferson nickel. In the meantime, only at the Denver Mint were Buffalo nickels coined that year, those with a “D” mintmark.
On hand at the Philadelphia Mint, where all coinage dies were made — including those used at Denver and San Francisco — there were some perfectly good, unused reverses with “S” mintmarks. With the coming of the Jefferson nickel, these would be useless, so rather than waste them it was decided to over punch the “S” with a “D.” This created the 1938-D/S.
Within a short time of the publicizing of the 1938-D/S, everybody and his brother and sister looked through their 1938-D Buffalo nickels — it is an extremely common coin — to see if any were 1938-D/S. Many thousands were found, from three reverse dies, each with very slight differences. Today, the 1938-D/S is considered common.
In slightly more than 40 years, the rarity estimate has gone from just two pieces to an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 or more. A photo panel in the Guide Book shows a close-up of this mintmark.
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