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Not Just Another Nickel There have been many coins in the history of the United States that have had Indians or some sort of Indian symbol on them. The first one that most people think of is the Indian Head penny. This coin featured a European head in an Indian headdress. But there were no coins made to honor the Native American until 1913. In the early 1900's, it was believed that the original inhabitants of this land would soon be extinct or at the very least fully assimilated. With this in mind many people wanted to preserve the rich and diverse cultures of the Native Americans. Thus, in remembrance of the Native American a coin was made to honor our heritage. James Fraser designed the Indian Head nickel , or more commonly known as the Buffalo nickel. This coin was created to represent the "Original American" and was produced between 1913 and 1937. Ironically at the time of the minting of the coin most Native Americans were not considered citizens of the United States The new coin featured an Indian Head on the front and a Buffalo on the back. Several magazine articles of the era refer to this design as the "pure American" The Indian head on the coin is actually a composite of three Indians. This was done so that the profile would better reflect the typical American Indian. Chief John Big Tree a full blood Iroquois was used for the nose and forehead. Iron Tail, from the Sioux nation was modeled for the chin and cheek. (Iron Tail was an opponent to General Custer at the Battle of Big Horn). The hair and the headdress was modeled by a Cheyenne Indian named Two Moons. After the coin was minted, it was discovered that the image on the coin looked exactly like Chief Two Gun White Calf of the Glacier Park reservation. The image on the coin has since been referred to as Chief Two Gun White Calf's image. While it is popular to believe that the buffalo was sketched in the wild, Fraser went no further than the New Your Central Park zoo .There, he drew a sketches of a twenty year old buffalo named "Black Diamond" Unfortunately, this honored animal was slaughtered two years after the coins minting.
Chief Two Gun White Calf Black Diamond
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