Liberty Nickels have a bad start in its first year, but thrive afterward.
I’ve spoken about many of the United States 20th century coins, but noticed I haven’t mentioned many of Charles Barber’s coins. Charles Barber is the Chief Engraver of the US Mint from 1879 to 1917. He succeeds his father, William Barber, as Chief Engraver. Barber designs many coins including the Stella $4 gold coin and a number of the early Commemorative coins. The most popular use his name: Barber Dime, Barber Quarter and Barber Half Dollar. Prior to these coins he put out a new design for the nickel, known as the Liberty Head or “V” nickel.
Brief History Of Liberty Nickels
During the Civil War, people hoard silver coins. As a result, the US Mint produces a new coin, the Shield Nickel, in 1866. This will be the first nickel coin in the US. The denomination will be five cents just like the silver Half Dime. However, by 1873, three silver coins end production, the Three Cent Silver, the Half Dime and the Seated Liberty Dollar. With the Half Dime gone, the Nickel would become the only five cent pieces in the United States.
With the government having a surplus of nickels, there are no non-proof Shield Nickels in 1877 and 1878 and a limited number between 1879 and 1881. Normal production resumes in 1882, but the new Chief Engraver is looking for a new design for the nickel. Barber creates a design in 1882 with a “goddess of Liberty” on the obverse and the roman numeral “V” on the reverse. 1883 will be the final year for the Shield Nickel as Barber’s new nickel begins
.On February 1, 1883, the first Liberty Head Nickels are released into circulation. However, there was one thing missing on this coin, the word “cents”. No one thought it was necessary, but they would soon find out how wrong they would be.
Racketeering Nickel
The following is one of the most popular counterfeits in the history of US coins. Josh Tatum noticed that this new nickel was close in size to the five dollar gold coin. So he gold-plated the nickels, buy something at the store for five cents, paid with the gold-plated nickel and got back $4.95 in change. For every dollar worth these gold-plated nickels, he would make $99. The perfect crime, at least in 1883. Eventually, Josh gets caught and tried, but not convicted. The judge and jury let Josh go because Josh is deaf and mute. Whether this is true or not, they say the phrase “I’m just joshin’ you” may have come from this.
Revising The Reverse
To eliminate counterfeiting the new Liberty Nickel, new ones come out on June 26, 1883 to include the word “CENTS” on the reverse. This would be the way it would stay for the next 30 years. Philadelphia would mint Liberty Nickels every year it was out, but Denver and San Francisco only minted them in 1912.
With the beginning of the 20th century, many are looking for new designs in US coins. With the 1890 Congress Act stating that coin designs cannot change within 25 years without Congressional Approval, the Barber Dime, Quarter and Half Dollar were safe until 1916. The Morgan Dollar ceased production in 1904 and wouldn’t resume until 1921. The Lincoln Cent enters circulation in 1909. That left the nickel.
The same year the new cent is in circulation, the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury requests new designs to replace the nickel. It isn’t until 1912 when a sculptor by the name of James Earle Fraser presents a design with a Native American on the obverse and a Buffalo on the reverse. Nickel production ends in December 1912 until the nickel gets a new design. This means that 1912 is the last of the Liberty Nickels , or is it?
1913 Liberty Nickels
The year would bring the introduction of the Buffalo Nickel, as well as an unexpected surprise. It’s been told that a master die was created for a 1913 Liberty Nickel but was destroyed in January 1913. Somehow, five specimens of this coin are out there. One of the original owners of these five nickels is a coin dealer by the name of Samuel Brown who is an employee of the Philadelphia mint. Coincidence?
Later, a big Texas collector, Colonel E.H.R. Green owns the nickels. In recent years, one nickel is found at the Smithsonian Institution, and another at the ANA Money Museum in Colorado Springs, CO. The remaining three Liberty Nickels are owned privately, and have sold at auctions. In August 2018, one of the nickels sell for $4.5 million, one of the highest amounts for US coins.
Key Dates
Besides the 1913 Liberty Nickel, there were a few key dates that would be easier to claim.
With the “Cents” added, many people hoarded the Liberty Nickels without it instead of returning it to the government. They were probably expecting them to be worth more than the ones with “Cents” on the reverse. What they didn’t realize was they would keep them in high condition and the ones with “Cents” would be used more in circulation.
There are only 5.474.300 1883 Liberty Nickels without the word “Cents”. Their value is $7 in good condition, $11 in very fine condition, and $35 in MS-60. Compare this to the 16,026,200 1883 Liberty Nickels with the word “Cents”. Their value is $20 in good condition, $55 in very fine condition, and $150 in MS-60. Though not valuable as expected the no cents nickel is popular in Type Sets.
Key Dates include the low mintage 1885 and 1886 which start off in the hundreds of dollars and goes over $1,000 in higher grades. A semi-key date is 1894 which starts at $20 in good conditions and goes up to over $400 in MS-63. The 1912-S had the lowest mintage at 238,000 and ranges from $175 to almost $2,000 in MS-63.
How About a Set of Liberty Nickels
Except for the 3 key dates, a Liberty Nickel set would be easy to collect. Even proof Liberty Nickels are cheap at around $250 in PF-63. You may even find one in change when you least suspect it. So, would you consider collecting Liberty Nickels?