The 1926-S is the only Buffalo Nickel with a mintage under one million - 970,000 pieces from a San Francisco Mint in the middle of its worst decade for quality control. The dies were worn, the strikes were mushy, and every coin went straight into circulation, because in 1926 nobody was saving nickels. The 1931-S has almost the same mintage and is common in high grade because the Depression made hoarders of everyone; the 1926-S had no such luck, and that is the whole difference between a low mintage and a rarity.
The result is the king of the series: a coin that is expensive worn nearly smooth and ferociously so with a full horn. It is also the series' great strike lesson - even uncirculated examples can look soft, so a sharp strike commands more than a technically higher grade with mush for details.
The added-mintmark alteration is the standing threat: a Philadelphia 1926 with a soldered S is the classic fake of the series. At this issue's prices, certification is not a preference, it is the purchase.
| Issue | Mint | Mintage |
|---|---|---|
| 1926 Buffalo Nickel | Philadelphia | 44,693,000 |
| 1926-S Buffalo Nickel | San Francisco | 970,000 |
| 1926-D Buffalo Nickel | Denver | 5,638,000 |
Mintage figures: United States Mint (Annual Report of the Director of the Mint), Royal Canadian Mint records, and — for the 1935 banknote issue — Bank of Canada printage records as published in the Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Government Paper Money, cross-checked across independent published references. Specifications: United States Mint coin specifications.