Liberty Head nickel
United States | |
Value | 5 cents (.05 US dollars) |
---|---|
Mass | 5.000 g (0.1615 troy oz) |
Diameter | 21.21 mm (0.8350 in) |
Edge | Plain |
Composition | |
Years of minting | 1883–1913 |
Mint marks | D, S. 1912 only; adjacent to the dot separating the words "CENTS" and "UNITED". Philadelphia Mint pieces lack mint mark. |
Obverse | |
Design | Liberty, wearing a coronet and wreath |
Designer | Charles Barber |
Design date | 1883 |
Design discontinued | 1913 |
Reverse | |
Design | Roman numeral V, for 5, indicating the denomination, surrounded by a wreath |
Designer | Charles Barber |
Design date | 1883 |
Design discontinued | 1883 |
Designer | Charles Barber |
Design date | 1883 |
Design discontinued | 1913 |
The Liberty Head nickel, sometimes referred to as the V nickel because of its
The original
Beginning in 1911, the Mint began work to replace the Liberty head design, and a new design, which became known as the Buffalo nickel, went into production in February 1913. Although no 1913 Liberty head nickels were officially struck, five are known to exist. While it is uncertain how these pieces originated, they have come to be among the most expensive coins in the world, with one selling in 2018 for $4.5 million
Origin
Industrialist
In 1881, this lobbying led Mint Superintendent
Barber duly produced the required designs. Fairly large numbers of
Late that year, Barber's 1882 design was endorsed by Mint authorities, and 25 specimens were sent to Washington for routine approval by
Release
Striking of the new coins began on January 30, 1883, and the Mint placed the first pieces in circulation on February 1.[8] Snowden, concerned about reports of speculation in 1883 proof Shield nickels, received permission on February 6 to continue striking proof Shield nickels for several months alongside the new pieces.[9]
It had not been thought necessary to inscribe the word "cents" on the nickel; the silver and copper-nickel three-cent pieces had circulated for years with only a Roman numeral to indicate the denomination.
The plating of the nickels caused consternation at the Mint, and brought production of Liberty Head nickels to a sudden stop. Barber was told to modify his design, which he did, moving other design elements to accommodate the word "cents" at the bottom of the reverse design. The revised nickel was issued on June 26, 1883, the date on which production of the Shield nickel was finally stopped. The public responded by hoarding the "centless" nickels,[13] egged on by reports that the Treasury Department intended to recall those nickels, and that they would become rare.[14]
Production
After heavy mintages of the nickel in 1883 and 1884, production was much lower in 1885 and 1886. This was due to an
The Coinage Act of 1890 retired a number of obsolete denominations, including the three-cent piece. Another Act of Congress, also enacted on September 26, 1890 required that coinage designs not be changed until they had been in use 25 years, unless Congress authorized the change.[18] However, the second act indicated that nothing in the law was to prevent the redesign of the current five-cent piece and silver dollar "as soon as practicable after the passage of this act".[19] In 1896, pattern nickels were struck for the first time since 1885, when experimental, holed coins had been tested. The 1896 pieces, which featured a simple shield with arrows crossed behind it, were struck in response to a resolution of the House of Representatives asking the Secretary of the Treasury to report to it on the advantages and disadvantages of using various alloys in coinage.[20] Pattern nickels would not be struck again until 1909.[21]
The turn of the century saw unprecedented demand for nickels, due to a booming economy and the use of nickels in coin-operated machines. In 1900, Mint Director George E. Roberts called on Congress to grant the Mint a larger appropriation to purchase base metals, allowing for greater production of nickels and cents.[22] The same year, the design was modified slightly, lengthening some of the leaves on the reverse. This change occurred with the introduction of a new hub, from which coining dies were made.[23] Demand for the coins remained heavy; in March 1911, Mehl's Numismatic Monthly reported that the Mint was working twenty-four hours a day to produce cents and nickels, and even so was failing to satisfy demand.[24]
Mint directors, in their annual reports, had long called for the authority to strike cents and nickels at all mints; by law they could then only be struck at Philadelphia. On April 24, 1906, this restriction was removed, although the first base metal coins, cents in both cases, were not struck at San Francisco until 1908 and Denver until 1911. In 1912, nickels were coined for the first time at each of the two branch mints.[25] The 1912-S (for San Francisco) nickel was not struck until Christmas Eve, and was only struck for four business days. A 1912-S nickel, one of the first forty coined, was used by former San Francisco Mayor James D. Phelan to pay the first fare on the city's first streetcar on December 28, 1912.[26] Excluding the 1913 nickel, the 1912-S, with only 238,000 struck, is by far the rarest in the series.[27]
Replacement
In 1909, consideration was given to the replacement of the Liberty Head nickel by a new design. In an attempt to modernize the coinage, the cent and the gold pieces had been redesigned. Prominent artists from outside the Mint had been contracted to provide the designs of the new coins, much to Barber's disgruntlement. Mint Director Frank A. Leach was an admirer of Barber's work, and had him prepare designs to be struck as patterns. Barber, at Leach's request, prepared a design showing Washington's head, and newspapers reported that new coins might be issued by the end of 1909. In July 1909, however, Leach resigned, putting an end to the matter for the time being.[28]
On May 4, 1911, Eames MacVeagh, son of Treasury Secretary Franklin MacVeagh wrote to his father:
A little matter that seems to have been overlooked by all of you is the opportunity to beautify the design of the nickel or five cent piece during your administration, and it seems to me that it would be a permanent souvenir of a most attractive sort. As possibly you are aware, it is the only coin the design of which you can change during your administration, as I believe there is a law to the effect that the designs must not be changed oftener than every twenty-five years. I should think also it might be the coin of which the greatest numbers are in circulation.[29]
Soon afterwards,
On December 13, 1912, Roberts warned the Mint staff to take no action in preparation for the 1913 five-cent coinage until the new designs were ready. He ended production of the Liberty Head nickel at the Philadelphia Mint the same day.[33] A minor change was made to the Buffalo design in an attempt to satisfy the Hobbs Company, which promptly provided a lengthy list of changes it wanted made to the coin. On February 15, 1913, with less than three weeks until he would have to leave office on the advent of the Wilson administration, McVeagh wrote to Roberts, noting that no other vending or slot machine maker had complained about the new design. The Secretary concluded that everything possible had been done to satisfy the Hobbs Company, and ordered the new nickel put into production.[31]
1913
The first information that a 1913 Liberty head nickel might have been struck came in December 1919, when coin dealer Samuel W. Brown placed advertisements in numismatic publications, offering to buy any such nickels. In August 1920, Brown displayed one such coin at the annual American Numismatic Association (ANA) convention.[34] Brown related that a master die had been prepared for the 1913 Liberty head nickels, and a few pieces had been run off to test the die.[35] As it turned out, Brown possessed five coins, which he eventually sold. After spending fifteen years in the hands of the eccentric Col. E.H.R. Green, the famous Fort Worth, Texas, area collector, the coins were finally dispersed in 1943. Since then, the coins have had several owners each. Today, three are on public display, one at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC and two reside at the ANA's Money Museum in Colorado Springs, while two are owned privately. One price recorded for a 1913 Liberty Head nickel was in January 2010, when one sold for $3,737,500 in an auction. [36] Recent sales of a 1913 Liberty Head nickel were in April 2013 for more than $3.1 million[37] and for $4.5 million at auction in August 2018.[38]
It is uncertain how the 1913 nickels came to be made. The Mint's records show no production of 1913 Liberty head nickels, and none were authorized to be made.[39] Dies were prepared in advance and sent to California for a 1913-S Liberty Head nickel coinage, but upon Roberts's instruction to stop coinage, they were ordered returned to Philadelphia. They were received by December 23, and were almost certainly destroyed routinely by early January.[40] Brown had been an employee at the Philadelphia Mint (although this was not known until 1963) and many theories focus suspicion on him.[41]
Mintage figures
References
- ^ "Out of many, one": a motto celebrating the union of the states into one country.
- ^ a b c Bowers 2006, p. 136.
- ^ a b Lange 2006, p. 123.
- ^ a b Peters & Mohon 1995, p. 6.
- ^ a b Bowers 2006, p. 139.
- ^ Bowers 2006, pp. 252–253.
- ^ Peters & Mohon 1995, p. 12.
- ^ Bowers 2006, pp. 140–141.
- ^ Bowers 2006, p. 143.
- ^ Peters & Mohon 1995, p. 95.
- ^ Bowers 2006, p. 140.
- ^ a b Montgomery, Borckardt & Knight 2005, pp. 27–29.
- ^ Peters & Mohon 1995, p. 46.
- ^ Montgomery, Borckardt & Knight 2005, p. 29.
- ^ Bowers 2006, p. 145.
- ^ Bowers 2006, pp. 184–185.
- ^ Peters & Mohon 1995, p. 108.
- ^ Peters & Mohon 1995, p. 122.
- ^ Bowers 2006, p. 149.
- ^ Richardson 1891, pp. 806–807, 26 Stat L. 484, amendment to R.S. §3510.
- ^ Bowers 2006, p. 261.
- ^ Peters & Mohon 1995, p. 14.
- ^ Bowers 2006, pp. 150–151.
- ^ Bowers 2006, p. 251.
- ^ Bowers 2006, p. 190.
- ^ Lange 2006, p. 135.
- ^ Peters & Mohon 1995, p. 162.
- ^ Bowers 2006, pp. 192–193.
- ^ Bowers 2006, p. 263.
- ^ Taxay 1983, p. 340.
- ^ Taxay 1983, pp. 341–343.
- ^ a b Taxay 1983, pp. 343–344.
- ^ Montgomery, Borckardt & Knight 2005, p. 35.
- ^ Montgomery, Borckardt & Knight 2005, p. 34.
- ^ Peters & Mohon 1995, p. 164.
- ^ Montgomery, Borckardt & Knight 2005, p. 98.
- ^ The China Post, January 1, 2010.
- ^ "Rare 1913 Nickel Fetches Over $3.1M at Auction". USA Today. Associated Press. April 26, 2013. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
- ^ "Rare nickel sells for $4.5 million at auction". AP News. August 17, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
- ^ Peters & Mohon 1995, p. 172.
- ^ Peters & Mohon 1995, pp. 171–172.
- ^ Montgomery, Borckardt & Knight 2005, pp. 37–39.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-7948-1921-7.
- Lange, David W. (2006). History of the United States Mint and its Coinage. Atlanta, Ga.: Whitman Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7948-1972-9.
- Montgomery, Paul; Borckardt, Mark; Knight, Ray (2005). Million Dollar Nickel. Irvine, Ca.: Zyrus Press. ISBN 978-0-9742371-8-3.
- Peters, Gloria; Mohon, Cynthia (1995). The Complete Guide to Shield & Liberty Head Nickels. Virginia Beach, Va.: DLRC Press. ISBN 978-1-880731-52-9.
- Richardson, William Allen, ed. (1891). Supplement to the revised statutes of the United States. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Office.
- Taxay, Don (1983). The U.S. Mint and Coinage (reprint of 1966 ed.). New York, N.Y.: Sanford J. Durst Numismatic Publications. ISBN 978-0-915262-68-7.
- OL 28306197M.
Online sources
- "Rare U.S. coin fetches over US$3.7 million at auction". The China Post. January 1, 2010. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
External links
- Bumpy Road for Liberty Head Nickels
- CoinResource.com – Liberty Head Nickels 1883–1913
- CoinFacts.com – Liberty Nickels