Racketeer Nickel

描述: The 1883 No Cents Liberty Nickel is one of the most popular type coins of all time. There are multiple reasons for this. It is a first year issue, a one year type and the date starts with a “18”. All of these, coupled with a low cost make it a very collectible coin. For the beginning collector, you can obtain a nice higher grade circulated example for less than ten dollars. The intermediate collector can pick up a nice certified mint state example for less than $100. The advanced collector can find these graded as high as MS-67. Normally, a coin like this must have had a very high mintage to make it so available. That is not the case for the 1883 No Cent nickel. The mintage is only 5.4 million. When compared, for example, to the 1907 with a mintage over 39 million, it is a very small mintage. The reason it is so obtainable is the issue was saved in great quantities. Even circulated examples were pulled out of circulation early, leaving the full spectrum of grades being available.

Why was the issue saved in such quantities? The first reason is it was a first year of issue. The second reason is the coin was minted for only a couple of months making it a one year type. However, it is the “why” it became a one year type that led to such a high survival rate.

Within days of the coins release, stories started to show up about individual's plating or gilding the new nickels and passing them off as $5 gold coins. This led to the design change and stories that the coins would be recalled which resulted in mass hoarding of the coin.

This set includes the coins that represent this story.

1: 1883 No Cent Liberty Nickel, the design first released on February 1, 1883.
2: 1883 No Cent Liberty Nickel, gilded to look like a $5 gold coin.
3: 1883 Liberty Head $5 gold coin.
4: 1883 With Cents Liberty Head nickel, the design that added CENTS to the reverse.