1936 Satin Buffalo PCGS PR66 (CAC)
James Earle Fraser used the portrait of three Indian chiefs to come up with the obverse design. In this way not one particular tribe would be identified. A stunning proof Buffalo example with a gorgeous wash of honey-rose over silvery surfaces. This is a remarkable proof specimen that lacks any deficiency of striking detail, surface preservation, or eye appeal.
Throughout my career as a professional numismatist, I had been taught that the “Satin” type coinage of 1936 had been manufactured first, followed by the “Brilliant” examples. This piece somewhat contradicts that idea. Historically, all 1936 “Satin” nickels have a raised die line on the reverse extending horizontally out from the E in E Plurbius Enum. This is one of the characteristics that dealers and graders alike use to determine if a coin is a satin proof as appose to a sharply struck business strike. Yet many of the coins with this die line display mirror like fields on the obverse and reverse alike. This can only happen when the dies have been heavily polished at some point in their life span.
So, were the satins struck first, with their non reflective surfaces, and at some point in the die life was it heavily polished giving the later strikes the mirror like appearance?
Or were the “Brilliant” specimens struck first, with their delicately polished dies, and then the dies were allowed to dull down due to excessive wear, creating the “Satin” proofs?
“A Guide Book of United States Coins”, in the 2011 edition, along with Walter Breen in his massive encyclopedia, state the total mintage of proofs as 4420 pieces, with no breakdown between the two types. And no where is the number of proof dies delivered mentioned.
Could it be that there is only one set of proof dies and what we are seeing are representatives of its life span? Perhaps some enthusiastic researcher could find the truth about these “hybrids”.
PCGS Cert #06657962 
PCGS / NGC Population: 253/223 – 248 Higher
