Amazon.com description: Product Description: The American bison, popularly nicknamed the buffalo, is a part of our national history, romance, lore, and legend. In their day bison roamed the plains by the millions. These large and impressive animals, the icons of the American West, were popular subjects of prints, stories, and melodrama. The exploits of Buffalo Bill in the Wild West captivated generations of the young and old alike in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Heavy hunting decimated their populations, though, and before long the American bison was nearly extinct. Today the bison is cherished, and government and other entities have set aside preserves for their use. The danger of extinction has passed. Buffalo Coins: America's Favorite is the story, still continuing, of these wondrous animals.