Liberty Nickels   Facts about the series Liberty Nickels replaced the Shield Nickel in 1883. The first design had a large Roman numeral "V" on the reverse (for 5), but omitted the word "Cents" from the denomination. Fraudsters gold plated these coins and passed these "racketeer nickels" off as similarly-sized $5 gold coins. Later that same year, the reverse design was changed by adding the word "Cents" to the coin, thus creating two varieties, No Cents and With Cents (With Cents is much scarcer).

All nickels were coined in Philadelphia until 1912, when Denver and San Francisco minted this denomination for the first time.

In the regular series, the two key dates are 1885, followed by 1912-S. Most 1885s are available in very low grades, or as Proofs. Mid-grade business strikes are difficult to locate. Other semi-keys include 1886 and 1894. All in all, Liberty Nickels are a readily obtainable series to complete, with some diligent searching for the keys and semi-keys.

A clandestine issue closed the series, with 5 pieces dated 1913. Although technically not a coin, the 1913 Liberty Nickel remains one of the most valuable numismatic issues in the entire U.S. series.

For information on grading Liberty Head Nickels, please see the Grading Liberty Nickels page.

The Society has not yet conducted a rarity survey for Liberty Nickels as was done years ago for the other Barber series, but is contemplating such a survey. Stay tuned.

See also the web site for the Liberty Head Nickel Society.

  Barber Coin Collectors' Society      --      Founded 1989      --      Email:   bccs@BarberCoins.org