Years
Designer
James B. Longacre
Composition
75% copper, 25% nickel
Diameter
20.5 mm
Mass
5 g
Thickness
1.9 mm
Edge
Plain
Mints
Philadelphia
Metal
Nickel
Design
Union shield obverse; reverse a large 5 in a circle of stars, with rays 1866–1867. The hard alloy caused die cracks that specialists collect.
History
The first five-cent nickel, born of the same Civil War small-change crisis as the two-cent and three-cent nickel. Rays on the reverse lasted a year and a half; they were dropped to improve striking. 1877 and 1878 are proof-only. 1883 overlaps the new Liberty Head nickel. Shield nickels are industrial-age coins: Reconstruction politics on the obverse, railroad fares on the reverse.
Key dates
16 issues