Liberty Head Nickels 1883-1912

About This Series

Charles Barber's Liberty Head nickel debuted in 1883 with a design oversight that produced one of numismatics' most colorful stories: the initial "No CENTS" reverse displayed only the Roman numeral V without the word CENTS, enabling fraudsters to gold-plate the nickel-sized coins and pass them as five-dollar gold pieces. The Mint quickly added CENTS to the reverse, creating the famous No CENTS / With CENTS type distinction of 1883. The 1885 (1,476,490 struck) and 1886 (3,330,290 struck) are low-mintage dates that challenge collectors in higher grades, but the series' ultimate rarity is the legendary 1913 Liberty nickel — five specimens struck under mysterious, unauthorized circumstances at the Philadelphia Mint, possibly by Samuel Brown, a Mint employee. These five coins are among the most famous in all of numismatics; the Eliasberg specimen sold for $4.56 million in 2018. Struck in 75% copper and 25% nickel at 21.2mm and 5.0 grams, Liberty Head nickels circulated through three decades of American life from the Gilded Age to the eve of World War I. The series was replaced by James Earle Fraser's Buffalo nickel in 1913, making the unauthorized 1913 Liberty nickel a ghost issue that should never have existed — a fact that only amplifies its legendary status in the numismatic canon.

Series Information