Liberty Nickels (1883 - 1912)

The Liberty Head Nickel represented the second design for the newly introduced five cent nickel denomination. The type was introduced in 1883 and struck until 1913. Liberty Nickels were mostly produced at the Philadelphia Mint with production of the denomination added, for the first time, at the Denver and San Francisco Mints in 1912.

The obverse design features a rending of Liberty, with a coronet containing the word LIBERTY and wheat and cotton woven into her hair. There are thirteen stars surrounding the image, with the date below. On the reverse of the coin is a large Roman numeral “V” surrounded by an agricultural wreath composed of ears of corn and wheat, and bolls and leaves of cotton. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is around and E PLURIBUS UNUM is under the wreath. This design, as originally struck in 1883, carried no mention of the denomination.

The unspecified denomination led some of the new nickels to be gold-plated and passed off as $5 gold pieces. Some people accepted these, believing that they were genuine gold coins and worth $5 instead of 5 cents. The Mint soon caught the problem, and later in 1883 the reverse of the Liberty Nickel was changed. The motto E PLURIBUS UNUM was moved above the wreath and in its former place the word CENTS was added. This design was used for the duration of the series.