The original Liberty nickel design indicated the denomination only with a large Roman numeral "V".

The Liberty Head nickel, sometimes referred to as the "V" nickel due to its reverse design, was an American nickel five-cent piece. Officially, it was minted from 1883 to 1912; a few patterns were struck in 1881 and 1882, and five pieces were surreptitiously struck in 1913, which today number among America's most fabled numismatic rarities. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x600, 1435 KB) Summary The 1883 Liberty Head nickel (No Cents variety). ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x600, 1435 KB) Summary The 1883 Liberty Head nickel (No Cents variety). ... Reverse may refer to: Obverse and reverse side of a coin changing the direction: of movement: forward - reverse, see gearbox of a design: see reverse engineering This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The United States five-cent coin, commonly called a nickel, is a unit of currency equaling one-twentieth, or five-hundredths, of a United States dollar. ... 1883 (MDCCCLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... A pattern coin is a coin produced for the purpose of evaluating a proposed coin design, but which was not approved for general circulation. ... 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar. ... 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Odessa Numismatics Museum is the first Ukrainian historical museum of new type whose tasks became studying the history of coinage and money circulation of the Ukrainian state and also preservation and demonstration the major historical relics belonging to ancient history and culture of the Northern Black Sea Region and Rus...

Origin

In 1881, Mint Superintendent James Ross Snowden decided to unify the designs of the cent, three-cent nickel, and five-cent nickel. Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber created Liberty Head designs for all three denominations, and patterns were struck later that year. However, Snowden was unable to implement his desired design alterations for the cent [1] and three-cent nickel [2], so only the five-cent nickel design ever saw full production. A two-cent euro coin A United States penny, or 1¢ In currency, the cent is a monetary unit that equals 1/100 of the basic unit of value. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The United States five-cent coin, commonly called a nickel, is a unit of currency equaling one-twentieth, or five-hundredths, of a United States dollar. ... Charles Edward Barber (1840–18 February 1917) was Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1879 until his death. ...

Release

The word "CENTS" was added to the reverse of the Liberty Head Nickel in mid-1883.

In early 1883, the Liberty Head nickel was first struck for circulation. The first 5.4 million pieces struck contained the Roman numeral "V" on the reverse, but did not contain the word "CENTS". Con artists quickly noted this, as well as the fact that the coin was roughly the same size as a five-dollar gold coin, and began gold-plating the new nickels and attempting to pass them as gold pieces. [3] According to numismatic legend, one of the perpetrators of this fraud was a deaf-mute named Josh Tatum, whose name is allegedly the origin of the verb "joshing". Supposedly, Tatum was not convicted because, being unable to speak, he did not actually make any fraudulent verbal claims regarding the coins, but merely accepted the change handed to him by the storekeeper [4]. This tale, however, may be apocryphal [5]. Whatever the truth of the case, what is known is that the Mint decided to add the word "CENTS" to the reverse design of the Liberty Head nickel in the middle of the 1883 striking [6], and this change remained until the coin was discontinued. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (700x700, 976 KB)The reverse of a Liberty Head nickel (With Cents variety). ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (700x700, 976 KB)The reverse of a Liberty Head nickel (With Cents variety). ... Reverse may refer to: Obverse and reverse side of a coin changing the direction: of movement: forward - reverse, see gearbox of a design: see reverse engineering This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... 1883 (MDCCCLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... A confidence trick, confidence game, also known as a con, scam, grift or flim flam, is an attempt to intentionally mislead a person or persons (known as the mark) usually with the goal of financial or other gain. ...

Design history

Liberty Head nickels were struck every year from 1883 to 1912. Most were struck at the main U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, but in 1912 the Denver and San Francisco mints also produced the coins. These can be distinguished from the Philadelphia-mint strikes by a small "D" or "S" mint mark on the reverse, which is located below the lower left dot. In 1913, the Liberty Head nickel was superseded by James Earle Fraser's new design: the Indian Head ("Buffalo") nickel. The Denver Mint The Denver Mint is a branch of the United States Mint established in 1862 that is today operational and produces coins for circulation, as well as mint sets and commemorative coins. ... The San Francisco Mint is a branch of the United States Mint, and was opened in 1854 to serve the gold mines of the California Gold Rush. ... End of the Trail James Earle Fraser (November 4, 1876 – October 11, 1953) was an American sculptor, born in Winona, Minnesota. ... The Indian Head (Buffalo) nickel was designed by James Earle Fraser. ...

1913

Main article: 1913 Liberty Head Nickel The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is one of the best-known and most coveted rarities in American numismatics. ...

The Indian Head design was introduced in February 1913. Prior to this, no production of Liberty Head nickels had been ordered, and none appear in the U.S. Mint's official striking records. Despite this, five such coins were struck [7]. All five were initially in the possession of Samuel Brown, who was a Mint employee at the time, and it is commonly assumed by numismatic historians that Brown surreptitiously produced the coins and then secreted them out of the Mint [8]. Clandestine strikings of this nature had been very common during the 18th and 19th centuries, but had become less common by 1913. The coins first came to the attention of the numismatic community in 1920. At one time, all five were owned by Colonel E.H.R. Green. Today, two of the coins reside in museums (one in the Smithsonian Institution, and one in the American Numismatic Association's Money Museum), and the other three are in private collections. The finest known specimen sold for $1,840,000 in a 1996 auction, and later resold for $4,150,000 in 2005 [9]. The "Olsen specimen", famous for having been featured on an episode of Hawaii Five-O, commanded $3,000,000 when it was auctioned in 2003 [10]. 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 3 - Babe Ruth is traded by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees for $125,000, the largest sum ever paid for a player at that time. ... Colonel (IPA: or ) is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with the corresponding ranks existing in nearly every country in the world. ... The Smithsonian Institution Building or Castle on the National Mall serves as the Institutions headquarters. ... The American Numismatic Association was founded by Dr. George F. Heath in 1891. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... (help·info) Hawaii Five-O ran for twelve seasons on CBS television network. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

• CoinResource.com - Liberty Head Nickels 1883-1913
• CoinFacts.com - Liberty Nickels
• J1671/P1872(1881 pattern)

External links

• Liberty Head Nickel Pictures