The History of the U.S. Nickel

Nearly everyone is familiar with the expression "queer as a three-dollar bill," but wouldn't a three-cent piece seem equally "queer?" The first "nickel" was actually a three-cent piece, and despite the fact that its composition was three-fourths copper and only one-fourth nickel, the coin was dubbed a "three-cent nickel" because it resembled the minority metal ( Guth: 214). On the obverse was the head of Lady Liberty, and on the reverse a Roman numeral three encircled by a laurel wreath. Prior to 1865, three-cent pieces were minted only from silver. The three-cent nickel was a durable, popular coin, but its production ceased after 1889. The first five-cent nickel appeared in 1866 with the advent of the Shield nickel, which was minted until 1883. But the Shield nickel was not the first U.S. coin with a denomination of five cents: the half-dime debuted in 1794 and remained in production for over a century, although the designs changed several times.
In 1883 came the Liberty Head nickel, which had a run of three decades. A doughty, dowager Lady Liberty supplanted the previous nickel's Union shield design. Centered among 13 six-pointed stars, the revered matron sported a diadem bearing the word LIBERTY. A Roman numeral five on the reverse led to the coin's alternative nomenclature, the V nickel. During its final year of production, only five of these nickels were made. Today each is worth a fortune (ibid: 327).
The buffalo nickel, which featured the large animal on the reverse and an Indian chief on the obverse, was designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser in 1913. The profile of the Indian was a composite of three different chiefs. Also called the Indian head nickel, this coin enjoyed a 25-year life span, at which point Thomas Jefferson replaced the Indian chief on the front, and the depiction of Jefferson's estate of Monticello -designed by Felix Schlag- replaced the buffalo on the opposite side. Schlag's famous Monticello rendition took a one-year respite it 2004, when Jefferson's home was replaced by two scenes, one in the spring and another in the fall, commemorating the bicentennial of the historic journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. This was known as The Westward Journey Nickel Series™, and featured the Louisiana Purchase/Peace Medal, and Keelboat (U.S. Mint).
But even Jefferson's venerable image was not sacrosanct: the third president underwent a numismatic facelift of sorts in 2006, when his familiar profile was replaced with an image of him based on an 1800 portrait by Rembrandt Peale (ibid). Jefferson is left of center, and looking straight ahead. The words IN GOD WE TRUST curve around the opposite edge of the coin, from approximately the one o'clock to four o'clock positions. Near the bottom edge of the nickel is Liberty in cursive script, beneath that the year, and under that, a capital letter identifying the mint.

© December 13, 2011 by Allan M. Heller

Works cited

Massey, J. Earl. America's Money: the story of our coins & currency. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1968. Print.
Guth, Ron. Coin Collecting For Dummies©. New York: Wiley Publishing Inc., 2001. Print.
"Lewis Meriwether." Webster's New World Encyclopedia™. 1992. Print.
United States Mint. Web. 12 Dec. 2011.