It is a privately minted silver round. Its value is based on the silver it contains — about $7.00 in August, 2005.
Assuming the coin is circulated, the 1936-D Indian Head / Buffalo nickel is a very common coin, for a coin in average circulated condition the values are $1.00-$4.00 retail. NOTE: No Buffalo nickel has ever been struck in silver.
Please don't assume that because a coin is old it has to be made out of silver. Buffalo nickels were issued from 1913 to 1938 and all were struck in an alloy of copper and nickel. There has never been a silver buffalo nickel. If you can see the coin's date on the front, please enter a new question in the form "What is the value of a <date> US nickel" in the large box at the top of the page and click the GO button. (<date> is of course your coin's actual date, like 1920 or 1936) If the date isn't visible on the front (a common problem with buffalo nickels) it's called a "cull" and is worth at most 10 or 15 cents.
Please check again and post a new question: > Buffalo nickels were made from 1913 to 1938. An 1899 nickel would have a picture of Miss Liberty on the front and the Roman numeral V (= 5) on the back. > All nickels except those from WWII (1942-45) are made of copper-nickel, not silver. > There's no coin called a "buffalo head" nickel. The names are either an Indian Head nickel or a buffalo nickel.
Look at the coin again, the first Buffalo nickel was made in 1913.
There is no silver in a 1964 nickel.
The current spot price of silver is about $43 per troy ounce.
The coin you describe is referred to as an " Indian Head Nickel " or sometimes a " Buffalo Nickel ".
This coin is commonly called either a buffalo nickel or an Indian head nickel (*). Please see the question "What is the value of a 1927 US nickel?" for more information. (*) But not a "buffalo head nickel" - after all, it shows the whole buffalo! Assuming the coin is circulated and has no mintmark, the 1927 Buffalo nickel is very common, average coins are $1.00-$5.00
This coin is commonly called either a buffalo nickel or an Indian head nickel (*). Please see the question "What is the value of a 1927 US nickel?" for more information. (*) But not a "buffalo head nickel" - after all, it shows the whole buffalo! Assuming the coin is circulated and has no mintmark, the 1927 Buffalo nickel is very common, average coins are $1.00-$5.00
This coin is commonly called either a buffalo nickel or an Indian head nickel (*). Please see the question "What is the value of a 1927 US nickel?" for more information. (*) But not a "buffalo head nickel" - after all, it shows the whole buffalo! Assuming the coin is circulated and has no mintmark, the 1927 Buffalo nickel is very common, average coins are $1.00-$5.00
Buffalo nickels were never made out of silver, only cupronickel. Please post a new question with the coin's date and whether there is a small D or S below the words FIVE CENTS on the back. Without that information it's not possible to determine a value.
All buffalo nickels were struck in the same alloy of 75% copper / 25% nickel that has been used for all 5-cent pieces except the famous "war nickels" made during WW 2. The latter were made of silver, copper, and manganese because nickel was a strategic war metal. The term "nickel" was applied to the coin long before the buffalo design was adopted.