Buffalo Nickels

James E. (Earle) Fraser (1876-1953) designed this U.S. five-cent piece or nickel which was first issued in 1913. He employed three different Indians as models. According to Fraser, the Native American on the Buffalo (also, Indian Head) nickel was actually a combined image created from three Indian (Native American) chiefs: a Cheyenne named Two Moons (1847-1917); an Iroquois named John Big Tree (1877-1967); and a Sioux named Iron Tail (1857-1955). Fraser's initial F is beneath the date. The bison was supposedly modeled after Black Diamond in the New York Central Park Zoo. (Barnum & Bailey Circus gave Black Diamond to the zoo as a gift.)