The Native American depiction on the coins obverse is believed to be based on three different American Indians. Two of the American Indians who modeled for Fraser as he sculpted the coin were named by the designer before his death. They were known as Chief Iron Tail of the Lakota Sioux and Chief Two Moons of the Cheyenne. Although many have claimed to have had a sitting with Fraser for this design, he could not recall the name of the third person and satisfactory documentation has not yet been found to identify that individual.

It is widely believed that the bison on the coins reverse was modeled after Black Diamond, a popular attraction at the New York Zoological Gardens.

The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 mandated the production of the American Buffalo Gold Coin. Both the American Buffalo Gold Bullion and Proof Coins portray the images of the revered Buffalo Nickel of 1913, Type 1. Originally prepared by noted American sculptor James Earle FraserJames Earle Fraser, once a student of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, for America’s 5-cent coin (nickel), the iconic James Earle Fraser image of an American bison graces the reverse (tails side), and Fraser’s classic design of an American Indian is featured on the obverse (heads side). That popular coin, known as the Indian Head, or Buffalo, nickel was introduced in 1913 and showcases the native beauty of the American West.

James Earle Fraserr, a former assistant to Saint-Gaudens and a prolific artist best known for his monumental “End of the Trail” Indian sculpture, created a truly unique design for the new coin. Up until that time, except for Bela Lyon Pratt’s quarter and half eagle of 1908, the “Indians” portrayed on U.S. coins were primarily Caucasian with an Indian headress, epitomized by Saint Gauden’s Greek Nike head on the 1907 Indian eagle.

Fraser’s design accurately portrays a male Native American, and the obverse portrait was a composite of three chiefs who had posed for him years earlier. Keeping with the distinctly American theme, he depicted an American bison on the reverse.

The inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and E PLURIBUS UNUM are artfully placed over the buffalo, with the denomination FIVE CENTS below. The legend LIBERTY and the date are similarly well executed on the coin’s obverse. Fraser’s design was medallic and beautiful, and for that reason was favored by Secretary MacVeagh.

Its allure seemed to completely elude Charles Barber, chief engraver of the United States Mint, who complained that the design elements were too large and didn’t allow for the proper placement of inscriptions. Barber didn’t get very far with this, as the design remained unchanged over his objections. Reservations also came from the vending machine industry, whose devices were designed primarily for accepting cents and nickels. Particularly persistent was the Hobbs Manufacturing Company, which marketed a machine for detecting counterfeit coins. Mr. Hobbs was certain that Fraser’s design would not work in his mechanism, and he asked that significant changes be made to the models. After much wrangling over this, Secretary MacVeagh instructed the Mint to proceed with the original design and let the vending machine companies adapt their mechanisms to the coin.

Type 1 nickels, minted only during the first few months of 1913, had the denomination FIVE CENTS on a raised mound. As early as April, rapid wear in this area became evident on the coins in circulation, so Barber finally got his chance to modify Fraser’s design. He cut away the mound, creating an exergue into which the denomination was set. This solved the reverse wear problem, but then he kept going. He smoothed out much of the detail and granularity in both the Indian’s portrait and the bison’s hide. The resulting Type 2 Buffalo Nickel, however, lacked much of the artistic impact of the original.