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Shield Type (1866-1883)
 
The Shield Nickel was the first of the five cent minted and they
were minted in the Philadelphia Mint. More than 126
million nickels were minted between 1866 and 1883. The
Nickels were a wonderful representation of coinage back then,
and even if they were not very popular with the people they are
still a great variation of the coin. The Shield Nickels
weighed 5 grams, had a composition of .75 copper and .25 nickel,
and its diameter was 20.5 millimeters. The coin presented
a shield and a wreath with the words In God We Trust above the
shield and the date below. On the reverse the number 5 was
surrounded by 13 stars and the words United States of America on
the upper rim and cents on the lower rim.
Liberty Type (1883 - 1913)
 
The Liberty Nickel Five Cent was introduced in 1883, and there was a lot of
controversy in the minting of the coin, due to the fact that the
coins minted didn't have the word "cents" on them. Well
many took advantage of this and plated the coins in gold and
passed them off as $5 dollar half eagles. Well once this error
was recognized Barber, the chief engraver at the time, quickly
designed the new nickel with the word CENTS in bold letters
under the V. The final year, 1913, the Liberty V Nickel
was to end and a new design was to emerge. However,
mysteriously 5 Liberty V Nickels surfaced and despite the
controversy surrounding the minting of the 5 rare nickel, they
have become the most coveted coins in United States History.
The rarity of the coins have brought prices of over 1.5 million
dollars, with a final auction of price of the finest known
nickel of 3 million dollars. The Liberty V
Nickel portrays Lady Liberty on the obverse of the coin with the
date beneath her, and thirteen stars around the rim of the coin.
On the reverse of the coin the Roman Numeral "V" is
surround by a simple wreath, with United States of America on
the Rim, and CENTS below the wreath. The Liberty Head Type
V Nickel weighed 5 grams, was made of .75 copper and .25 nickel.
It had a diameter of 21.2 millimeters and they were minted in
Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco. The Designer of
the Coin was Charles E. Barber.
Indian Head (Buffalo) Type (1913 - 1938)
 
These coins, know as the Buffalo, Bison, or Indian Head Nickels
and were the new designs of the coins to take the place of the
Liberty Head "V" Nickels, which had been in production since
1883. The nickels needed a change and the upper authority
of the mint and congress wasn't about to say NO. So a
design was to be made to take the place of the Liberty Head
nickels previously designed by Barber. Up until now, most
coins portrayed white Indians with Headdresses, so without
hesitation, James E. Fraser, designed the Indian Head Nickel to
portray the similarities of an American Indian. He
actually had three different Indians pose for him to create his
new design. To keep with the theme of the coin, a buffalo
(bison) was designed on the reverse. The Buffalo was
modeled after Black Diamond in the New York Zoo. The
Buffalo Nickel weighed grams, was made of .75 copper and
.25 nickel, and had a diameter of 21.2 millimeters. The
coins were minted in Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco.
Jefferson Type (1938 - Present)
 
The Jefferson Nickel Five Cent began production in 1938 and it was the third United
States coin to feature a US President. The Coin was
designed by Felix Schlag, who incidentally won an award of 1,000
dollars in a competition of some 400 artist. The coin went
throw tough times, and the need for nickel for the war was in
demand and for a brief time, 1942 - 1945, the United States Mint
converted back to making the nickels out of silver again.
These coins are well known to collectors and are evident by the
mint mark above the dome on the reverse of the coin. The
Jefferson Nickels weighed 5 grams, were made of .75 copper and
.25 nickel (except in the years of 1942 - 1945 which the
composition changed to .56 copper, .35 silver, and .09
manganese), and they had a diameter of 21.2 millimeters.
The Jefferson Nickel Five Cent were minted in Philadelphia, Denver, and
San Francisco.
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