Shield nickel
The Shield nickel was the first United States five-cent piece to be made out of copper-nickel, the same alloy of which American nickels are struck today. Designed by James B. Longacre, the coin was issued from 1866 until 1883. The nickel proved difficult to strike and the reverse, or tails, design was modified in 1867.
About Shield nickel in brief
The Shield nickel was the first United States five-cent piece to be made out of copper-nickel, the same alloy of which American nickels are struck today. Designed by James B. Longacre, the coin was issued from 1866 until 1883, when it was replaced by the Liberty Head nickel. The nickel proved difficult to strike and the reverse, or tails, design was modified in 1867. Minting of the Shield nickel for circulation was suspended in 1876 for a period of over two years due to a glut of low-denomination coinage. It was struck in only small quantities until 1882. The following year, theCoin was replaced with Charles E. Barber’s Liberty head design. Five-cent pieces had been struck by the United States Mint since 1792. They were the first coins struck by Mint authorities. These half dimes, were struck in silver. The alloy used was originally. 892 silver with the remainder copper; in 1837 the silver portion was increased to. 900. The Civil War caused most American coins to vanish from circulation, with the gap filled by such means as merchant tokens, encased postage stamps, and United States fractional currency, issued in denomination as low as three cents. Although specie was hoarded or exported, the copper-Nickel cent, then the only base metal denomination being struck, also vanished. In 1864, Congress began the process of restoring coins to circulation by abolishing the three-cent note and authorizing bronze cents and two-cent Pieces to be struck.
These new coins initially proved popular, though the two- cent piece soon faded from circulation. The five- cent note was to bear a portrait of William Clark, the explorer, but Congress was appalled when the issue came out not bearing a portrait. According to numismatic historian Walter Breen, Congress’s “immediate infuriated response was to pass a law retiring the 5¢ denomination, and another to forbid portrayal of any living person on federal coins or currency. The five cent piece was to be a popular substitute for the five cent note, and could easily be made . In his 1865 report Pollock wrote, “From this nickel alloy, a coin for the denomination of five cents, and which would be apopular substitute for five cent notes, could well be made… only until the resumption of specie payments .. in time of peace .’” In 1872, Congress passed a bill authorizing the Mint to strike three- cent pieces of 75% copper and 25% nickel. This bill was passed by the House of Representatives, ostensibly to make the weight equal to five grams in the metric system, but likely so that the coin could sell more in the more likely that it would be more likely to sell in metric. The bill passed and was signed into law on March 3, 1872. The coin was struck on March 4, 1873.
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This page is based on the article Shield nickel published in Wikipedia (as of Oct. 31, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
