Buffalo Nickel 374 by Andy Warhol depicts the reverse of a five-cent coin issued by the United States Mint between 1913 and 1938. It features a solitary American bison rendered in muted gray tones. Warhol centers the animal within the circular coin frame, allowing the raised lettering and worn contours to remain visible. Fine lines describe the buffalo’s heavy shoulders and bowed head, while the flattened palette preserves the look of aged metal rather than graphic embellishment. Unlike Warhol’s saturated portraits, the restrained monochrome emphasizes texture, weight, and surface erosion. As a result, the coin reads as both an object and an image.
Media, Myth, and American Symbols
Warhol produced Buffalo Nickel 374 in connection with his Cowboys and Indians series, which examines how American history has been filtered through mass media. The portfolio includes figures such as War Bonnet Indian and Action Picture, emphasizing myth over documentation. Rather than reconstructing the past, Warhol isolates images already embedded in popular consciousness.
The original Buffalo Nickel was designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser, who paired a Native American profile on the obverse with a bison on the reverse. Fraser intended the coin as a tribute to what he viewed as vanishing symbols of the American frontier. Warhol preserves this historical imagery without alteration. Yet the composition remains deliberate rather than nostalgic. It allows the coin’s symbolism to function as a pre-existing cultural artifact rather than a reinvention.
Buffalo Nickel 374 by Andy Warhol as Part of His Larger Body of Work
By presenting the “tails” side of the coin, Buffalo Nickel 374 reinforces Warhol’s interest in icons shaped by repetition and circulation. The image mirrors his treatment of dollar signs, advertisements, and celebrity portraits, where familiarity becomes the subject itself. Although Warhol ultimately chose the Indian Head Nickel for the main portfolio, Buffalo Nickel 374 functions as a closely related, portfolio-adjacent work. Ultimately, it expands Warhol’s exploration of American identity through everyday objects.
Photo of both sides of a Buffalo nickel, also known as an Indian Head nickel. Image courtesy of CCF Numismatics, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
