What is the value of a 1936 Indian head nickel with the buffalo on the other side upside down?

Answer 1

Are you sure it's really upside down? Compare your coin to others from your pocket change. >ALL< U.S. coins use what's called "coin rotation", which means that the obverse and reverse (front and back) are oriented in opposite directions when the coin is flipped side to side like the page of a book. If your nickel is oriented that way, its value depends on the mint mark and condition. If there's a little "D" underneath the words "Five Cents", it could be worth 2 or 3 dollars depending on how worn it is. If there's an "S" or no letter, it might be worth 50 cents to a dollar. If the buffalo is oriented the same way when flipped side to side (i.e. the words "Five Cents" on the back are opposite the date on the front and not the top of the Indian's head, you could have a rotated die error that would be worth much more. However, to the best of my knowledge no rotated die errors have ever been reported for 1936 nickels. Note that other countries, e.g. Canada, the U.K., the EU, etc. use what's called "medal rotation" which means the sides of their coins are oriented the same directions when flipped side to side. If you find a coin from those issuers they are not errors either. There's no advantage to one rotation method versus the other; it's just a matter of style and tradition.