1916

Philadelphia's 1916 Buffalo nickel mintage reached 63,498,066 coins, a massive production year that reflected surging commercial demand as the United States economy expanded in the years leading up to World War I entry. The high mintage makes the 1916 Philadelphia coin common in all grades and readily available in Mint State. Strike characteristics for the year are variable, and specialists note that some 1916 dies produced noticeably softer detail than the Mint's best work.

The high mintage is particularly significant because 1916 also produced the famous Doubled Die Obverse variety (cataloged separately), which was struck from a limited number of dies within the overall Philadelphia output. The fact that so many normal-die 1916 nickels exist alongside the rare DDO creates interesting study opportunities for specialists comparing normal and doubled strikes.

1916 was the year Woodrow Wilson was re-elected president on the campaign slogan "He kept us out of war." Within five months of his second inauguration, the United States would declare war on Germany and enter World War I. The Buffalo nickels struck in the final year of American neutrality witnessed the last moments before the country's full engagement with European conflict and the beginning of the military buildup that would transform American industry and monetary policy.