1938-D Buffalo

The 1938-D is the final Buffalo nickel and the only 1938-dated Buffalo nickel struck at any mint. Denver delivered 7,020,000 coins in early 1938 before the Mint transitioned to Felix Schlag's new Jefferson nickel design, which began production later that year and continues with various modifications to the present day. The 1938-D is the terminal date of the Buffalo series and marks the end of James Earle Fraser's design after twenty-five years of production.

The 1938-D is common in all grades and readily available in Mint State. Strike characteristics are generally strong, reflecting improved Denver production techniques and careful die maintenance during the series' final year. Gem-quality examples exist in abundant numbers for specialist demand because collectors actively set aside 1938-D nickels as last-year-of-issue pieces at the time of release.

The decision to replace the Buffalo design came from Mint officials who considered the twenty-five-year-old design outdated compared to the newer Roosevelt-era coinage aesthetic. Felix Schlag's winning Jefferson nickel design featured a bust of Thomas Jefferson on the obverse and Monticello on the reverse, replacing the Native American and buffalo imagery with a more classical presidential format. Many collectors and design critics lamented the change, considering Fraser's Buffalo nickel among the most distinctively American coinage designs ever produced.

For collectors building complete Buffalo nickel sets, the 1938-D is the required terminal entry. The combination of final-year status, strong strike characteristics, and abundant availability makes it one of the most popular Buffalo nickels for type collectors and display purposes. It serves both as the closing piece of a date set and as a memorial to one of America's most beloved coin designs.