Lot 1194
1918/7-D Buffalo Nickel. PCGS graded MS-62 PQ. As usual a trifle soft in areas. The over-date nice and clear. Fully lustrous. Light golden color. A glittering pale golden example with intense heavy luster flows suggesting late-stage dies; rare it is to find an even halfways bold strike on this key 1918/7 overdate from the Denver mint, and eye appeal that just won't quit! Pop 9; 36 finer; 6 in 63; 27 in 64; 3 in 65.
The 1918/7-D overdate certainly rivals the 1916/1916 and 1937-D 3-leg nickel for the title of most talked about and highly sought variety in the series. Though discovered as long ago as 1931, it remains scarce to this day.
The obverse die for this variety was made during the waning days of 1917 at the Philadelphia Mint, where all branch-mint dies are prepared. It was during the final quarter of each year that the Mint's engraving department began preparing dies for the new year's issue. As described in David W. Lange's book on the buffalo nickel series, "a nationwide shortage of minor coins (cents and nickels) developed during 1917-18 and led to an unprecedented output of these. It is therefore easy to understand that dies for both 1917 and 1918 would have been in preparation during the latter months of 1917 to meet both current and anticipated needs. Accidentally, hubs from two different years were used when making a single obverse "working die". Either the overdate feature wasn't noticed at the time, or under the stress of wartime bustle, it wasn't considered significant enough to withdraw the die from its destination at the Denver Mint (PCGS # 3939) .
Estimated Value $40,000 - 50,000.
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| Realized $43,200 |
