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Liberty "V" Nickel
Liberty
"V" Nickels For Sale
History of
the Liberty "V" Nickel
The Liberty
Nickel, commonly known as the “V” nickel for
the Roman Numeral "V" on the reverse was officially produced from 1883
to 1912. We use the word officially because one of the most famous
coins of all is the 1913 Liberty Nickel which was produced under suspect
circumstances. More on that later.
In 1881, A.
Loudon Snowden, Superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint directed Chief
Engraver at the time, Charles Barber, to create designs for the cent,
three-cent piece and the nickel. Snowden believed that all three coins
should be similar in design and metal composition. The designs created
by Barber were all simple in appearance with Lady Liberty on the obverse
and a Roman Numeral I, III or V on the reverse to represent the
denomination. Barber completed the request later that year with all
three coins stuck
in copper-nickel which was the same as the Shield
Nickel currently in circulation. The Shield Nickel, introduced in 1866,
was the first “nickel” sized coin. The half-dime, made of silver, had
previously filled the need for this denomination. The Shield Nickel was
well received despite the fact that during this time period, consumers
liked their coinage in silver and/or gold. And although the nickel was
relatively new, its bland design made it ripe for a redesign.
Additionally, during this time period, there was not yet a federal law
establishing the minimum life expectancy for US coin designs.
Changing
the cent, three-cent piece and nickel was not to be. Congress opposed a
change in composition to the cent and the Treasury would not approve a
design change for the three-cent piece. The three-cent silver piece has
been discontinued several years before and the three-cent nickel, with
the exception of 1881 had seen declining mintage numbers. With the
nickel seeming to be the only viable option for change, Barber and
Snowden concentrated on making the change to the nickel a reality. In
addition to a design/appearance change, Snowden also changed the size
from 20.5 mm in diameter to 21.2 mm. Snowden believed that by
increasing the diameter and reducing the thickness (the weight stayed
the same), die life would be extended.
After all
the finishing touches were complete, there was a special ceremony on
January 30th, 1883 to introduce the new nickel. Those who
attended, and were deemed important, received first strike coins. A few
days later, regular production began. The new nickels had hardly been
circulated when a major problem surfaced. The coin did not contain the
word “cents” and con artists of the day were plating the nickel with
gold and passing them off as $5.00 gold pieces. Because the nickel was
still new, the general public was not aware of the new nickel and since
the “V” was the only symbol of value, it could mean 5 cents or 5
dollars. Unfortunately for the mint, nearly 5 ½ million nickels had
already been produced and released. Barber quickly created a new
design, this one with the word cents prominently displayed on the back.
The first nickels soon became known as the “no cents” nickels. The
nickels that were gold plated became known as “racketeer nickels” and
can still be found in old hoards and collections.
In the end,
over 16 million nickels were produced in 1883. Even though far more
1883 nickels with the word “cents” were produced, they are harder to get
in good grades. The “no cents” variety was saved by people thinking
that they would be recalled/replaced.
After this
initial controversy, the Liberty Nickel settled down to a calm life.
There were no significant changes during the life span of the nickel,
and for all but the final year, all the nickels were made in
Philadelphia. In the final year of official production, 1912, nickels
were also made in Denver and San Francisco.
Officially,
Liberty Nickels were produced from 1883 to 1912. Sometime well after
production stopped, a few 1913 Liberty Nickels surfaced. In December
1919, Samuel W. Brown put an advertisement in The Numismatist offering
to pay $500 for 1913 Liberty Nickels. It is a known fact that he was
the first person to advertise for this date. It turns out; Brown was
employed by the mint at the time of the suspected minting of the 1913
coins. He worked in the coining department. Although no one now knows
for sure how the 1913 coins were produced, there are a couple theories:
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It is speculated that the
coins were produced in late 1912 when dies for the next years
coinage were being made, and before it was decided that 1913 would
be the introduction of the Buffalo Nickel.
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The coins could have been
produced early January 1913. The first “experimental” Buffalo
Nickels were struck on January 7th, 1913 but production
did not take place until February 15, due to various design
problems. It would not have been unusual for someone in the Medal
Department of the Mint to strike a few examples for cabinet/display
purposes. Since the Buffalo Nickel was not yet officially approved,
striking a few Liberty Nickels would not have been illegal.
While no
one knows for sure how Brown came into possession of the nickels, it is
possible that he received them from engraver George T. Morgan, who
produced rarities upon occasion for sale to dealers. Considering
the effort required to produce them, such as making the dies, preparing
the machinery and then finally striking the coins, it is amazing that
no-one came forward to claim participation or to profit from the coins.
After
running the ad, Brown displayed the nickels in 1920 at an ANA
convention. Now the word was out, 1913 Liberty Nickels actually
existed. A few years later, a prominent coin dealer of the time, B. Max
Mehl or Fort Worth, TX, advertised to pay $50 a piece for a 1913 Liberty
Head Nickel. He knew he would never get one though. He was a marketing
genius and as a result of his advertisements, coin collecting became all
the rage and his publication, Star Rare
Coin Encyclopedia sold very well.
People began checking there change in hopes of finding the coin.
To this day though, only 5 have ever surfaced and it is believed that
the five known, are the only ones in existence.
In January
1924, August Wagner, a Philadelphia coin dealer advertised for sale the
five nickels presumably on behalf of Samuel Brown. From there, they
have had a host of owners. Until recently, one of the 5 pieces (the
Walton Coin) had been missing for 40 years. Mr. Walton-a dealer, would
take his coin to shows along with a duplicate. On his way to a show he
was killed in a car wreck and his coins were scattered on the roadside.
His heirs did get his coins back, but were never sure if the coin they
had was the fake or the original. A major dealership once called the
real coin a fake. In 2003 at the ANA Show, the coin was authenticated by
several experts and the mystery of the missing coin ended. It was also
at this convention that all 5 1913 Liberty Nickels were displayed
together for the first time since 1920.
How famous
is the 1913 Liberty Nickel? It was the first coin to sell for over
one-million dollars. It was also featured on the old show Hawaii
Five-0.
Collectibility
General
The Liberty
Nickel series makes a challenging, yet very doable, series to complete.
Most of the nickels produced from 1900 on can be had for around a couple
bucks in low grades. Nicer grades around the VF range could cost you
$10.00 per coin.
Key/Semi
Key Dates
In order to
complete the series, three coins may give you trouble. The 1885, 1886
and 1912 S are the lowest mintage. The 1885 had a mintage of over 1.5
million but will still set you back at least $500 in a grade around G4.
The 1886 had a mintage of 3.3 million and will cost around $250 in a G4
grade. The 1912-S specimen had the lowest mintage by far of just
238,000. As this was the first Liberty Nickel from San Francisco, as
well as the last of the series, it was probably saved a little bit more
than the older issues as it may have been recognized for its low
mintage. Even with a mintage of just 1/6 of the most expensive 1885
piece, the 1912-S can be had for around $150 around a G4 grade.
For more information on
collecting Liberty Nickels visit www.coin-articles.com
Errors
Unlike many
other coins, such as the Lincoln series, there are not any real errors
to speak of in the Liberty Nickel series. Sure, there are a number of
repunched dates, etc, but no double dies, overdates, etc.
Proofs
Collecting
proofs in the Liberty Nickel series can be tough yet rewarding. Proofs
were minted for every year of existence for the “V” nickel. Proofs in
PR65 condition can run in the $500 plus range for most years with the
1885 running upwards of $1500. Production usually numbered in the
thousands for each year, which was an unusually high number for the
period.
Vital Statistics Summary
Key Coin
Info
Designed by: Charles E.
Barber
Issue date: 1883
Composition: 75% copper, 25% nickel
Diameter: 21.2 mm.
Weight: 77.16 grains (5 grams)
Edge: Plain
Business strike mintage: 5,474,000
Proof mintage: 5,219
Designed by: Charles E.
Barber
Issue dates: 1883-1913
Composition: 75% copper, 25% nickel
Diameter: 21.2 mm.
Weight: 77.16 grains (5 grams)
Edge: Plain
Business strike mintage: 596,535,965
Proof mintage: 79,923
Liberty Nickel Mintage
Date Mint Pop
1883 w/o Cents
5,479,519
1883 P
16,032,983
1884 P
11,273,942
1885 P
1,476,490
1886 P
3,330,290
1887 P
15,263,652
1888 P
10,720,483
1889 P
15,881,361
1890 P
16,259,272
1891 P
16,834,350
1892 P
11,699,642
1893 P
13,370,195
1894 P
5,413,132
1895 P
9,979,884
1896 P
8,842,920
1897 P
20,428,735
1898 P
12,532,087
1899 P
26,029,031
1900 P
27,255,995
1901 P
26,480,213
1902 P
31,480,579
1903 P
28,006,725
1904 P
21,404,984
1905 P
29,827,276
1906 P
38,613,725
1907 P
39,214,800
1908 P
22,868,177
1909 P
11,590,526
1910 P
30,169,353
1911 P
39,559,372
1912 P
26,236,714
1912 D
8,474,000
1912 S
238,000
602,268,407
Liberty Head "V" Nickel News
Updated : Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:01:35 GMT
Publ.Date : Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:45:53 GMT
Publ.Date : Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:45:52 GMT
Publ.Date : Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:09:54 GMT
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