From Pizza to Pedestal: The Wild Journey of a Buffalo Nickel
Sometimes, life throws you the kind of curveball that could only happen in America—a story so unbelievable, it sounds like the plot of a movie. This is the true tale of how a beat-up Buffalo Nickel, handed over during a routine pizza run, ended up worth over half a million dollars and earned a permanent spot in a national museum.
A Slice of Fate in Pennsylvania
Picture this: It’s 2007 in small-town Pennsylvania. A hungry teenager digs through a drawer, scrounging for coins to cover a late-night pizza delivery. Quarters, dimes, nickels—whatever he could find. No big deal, right?
Among that handful of change was a particularly worn Buffalo Nickel. It looked like any other, just old and well-traveled. The delivery guy pocketed it without a second glance.
What no one realized at the time? That unassuming nickel was worth a whole lot more than a large pepperoni.
An Unexpected Detour to a Coin Shop
Sometime later, that very coin found its way to a local coin shop—probably tucked in with other old currency. The shop’s owner, a seasoned collector with an eagle eye for oddities, noticed something strange. The date on the nickel looked… off. And on closer inspection, there was a faint doubling on the buffalo’s image.
This wasn’t just a Buffalo Nickel. This was the Buffalo Nickel.
Meet the 1918/7-D Overdate Error
What he’d stumbled upon was one of the rarest error coins in U.S. history: the 1918/7-D Buffalo Nickel. It happened when the Denver Mint accidentally stamped a 1918 date over a 1917 die. The result? A doubled date that’s barely noticeable without close inspection—but for coin experts, it’s pure gold.
Only about 200 of these overdate nickels are known to exist today in any condition. It’s like finding a golden ticket in your junk drawer.
The Auction That Made Headlines
Word spread quickly, and collectors started circling. By the time the coin made it to Stack’s Bowers Galleries—a legendary name in rare coin auctions—it had become something of a legend.
Despite the coin’s worn condition (hey, it paid for pizza, after all), the backstory and extreme rarity sparked a frenzy of bidding. When the hammer finally fell in 2024, the final price read $601,000.
Yes, over six hundred grand—for a coin once stashed in a teenager’s pocket.
A Coin’s Final Resting Place (And It’s Not a Piggy Bank)
The winning bidder? Anonymous. But instead of keeping it locked away, they made a move that stunned collectors—they donated the nickel to the American Numismatic Museum in Colorado Springs.
Now, that once-forgotten coin sits under glass, admired by history buffs and school groups alike. There’s even a plaque retelling its unlikely journey from pizza payment to priceless artifact.
A Reminder That Magic Can Be Ordinary
The Buffalo Nickel has always been a fan favorite among American coins. With a proud Native American on the front and a powerful buffalo on the back, it’s a snapshot of classic U.S. coin design. But the 1918/7-D version? That one’s in a league of its own.
And its story proves a powerful point: extraordinary things can come from the most ordinary moments.
So, What’s in Your Change Jar?
Let’s face it—we all have that junk drawer or cup holder filled with loose change we barely think about. But stories like this one are a great reminder: sometimes, tucked between pennies and lint, there’s a piece of forgotten history just waiting to be rediscovered.
Next time you reach for some spare change, look twice. Because who knows? That scuffed-up coin might be worth more than your car—and might just end up behind museum glass.