Coin Specifications

One of the most curious compositions was created through efforts to save nickel for the World War II effort. The Jefferson Nickel had its composition completely changed to completely exclude nickel. The new composition adopted consisted of copper, silver, and manganese. This composition was used from October 1942 to 1945.

To differentiate the Silver War Nickels from the standard composition, the mint mark was moved to the reverse of the coin, where it appeared in large size above the Monticello dome. Even coins struck at the Philadelphia Mint would carry the “P” mint mark, representing the first time that it was used. Previously mint marks had been used only for branch mint coins.

After 1945, the regular composition of the Jefferson Nickel was resumed. Many silver nickels were saved and those that circulated were later removed when the price of silver made their intrinsic value greater than their face value.

Wartime Jefferson Nickel Coin Specifications

nickels Jefferson

The third design for the nickel, was the Indian Head or Buffalo Nickel. This coin is popular with collectors as a uniquely American coin design. The obverse features a native American and the reverse features the American Bison, often called a buffalo. The coin specifications once again remained unchanged. Coins were stuck at all three mints, with coin struck at San Francisco generally having the lowest mintages. The Buffalo Nickel was struck in proof for only the first five years and last two years of production.

Buffalo Nickel Coin Specifications

nickels buffalo

The nickel denomination saw its second design with the Liberty Nickel, introduced in 1883. The coin had the same composition as the Shield Nickel fore it, with 75% copper and 25% nickel. The Liberty Nickel was minted only at the Philadelphia Mint until the last year of production when coins were also minted in Denver and San Francisco. These were the first coins of the denomination minted somewhere other than Philadelphia. The Liberty Nickel was well circulated, and has a few notable key date coins that are rare across all grades. Proof coins were minted in every year of issue.

Liberty Nickel Coin Specifications

nickels liberty

Although a five cent piece had been struck since 1794, the denomination did not reach its current form until 1866 when the Shield Nickel was produced. This coin used a composition of 75% copper and 25% nickel, rather than the silver based composition of the half dime. The series was relatively short and ran from 1866 to 1883 before being replaced with the Liberty Head Nickel. The Shield Nickel series does contain some major rarities in both circulation and proof strikes.

Shield Nickel Coin Specifications

nickels Shield