Buffalo nickels do not contain silver content. The composition of a Buffalo nickel is 75% copper and 25% nickel.
Are Any Nickels Silver?
Apart from wartime nickels, no nickels in U.S. history have been made with silver content.
There have been other five-cent coins with silver content.
The Half Dime
The half dime or half disme (pronounced deem) was first issued in 1795. It was authorized by the Act of April 2, 1792 but was not struck until 1795, although some bear a 1794 date.
The half dime silver content by issue is below.
| Year | Issue | Composition |
| 1794-1795 | Flowing Hair half dime | 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper |
| 1796-1805 | Draped Bust half dime | 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper |
| 1829-1837 | Capped Bust half dime | 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper |
| 1837-1873 | Liberty Seated half dime | 90% silver, 10% copper |
Three-Cent Nickels – America’s First Nickel Coin
The first nickel, the 1865 three-cent nickel, was struck with no silver content to prevent hoarding and encourage circulation.
The American public had been stockpiling three-cent silvers, which impacted circulation so much that Congress issued paper currency to replace them.
These fractional notes became known as Shinplasters.
The term arose during the American Revolutionary War and referred to a piece of paper soldiers would place inside their boots to protect their shins from rashes and chafing.
The fractional notes issued to replace coins that the public stockpiled were called Shinplasters because they were perceived as worthless compared to hard currency like gold and silver. Shinplasters circulated from 1861 until 1869 during the Civil War and the Reconstruction era.
During this time, the U.S. Large cent did not circulate through the Pacific coast or the southern states due to a bias against coins with no precious metal content. The Large cent was replaced by a smaller cent made of 88% copper and 12% nickel in 1857.
After Congress issued a lighter bronze cent in 1864, Pennsylvania industrialist Joseph Wharton advocated for a three-cent copper-nickel coin to replace the three-cent Shinplaster notes. Wharton was also in control of the domestic and much of the international nickel ore supply.
On March 3, 1865, Congress authorized a bill for a three-cent piece struck from a nickel-copper alloy.
While the three-cent nickel circulated well, it fell out of favor after the five-cent Shield nickel was introduced in 1866. In 1890, Congress abolished the three-cent nickel since the five-cent nickel better fits the decimal system.
