Five Cents 1913 Liberty Head Nickel, Coin from United States - detailed information

The Liberty Head Nickel (or simply Liberty Nickel), sometimes referred to as the V Nickel because of its reverse design, is an American five-cent piece (abbreviated as 5¢). It was struck for circulation from 1883 until 1912, with at least five pieces being surreptitiously struck dated 1913. The obverse features a left-facing image of the goddess of Liberty. The alloy is the same as modern nickels, 75% copper and 25% nickel.

The original copper-nickel five-cent piece, the Shield Nickel, had long-standing production problems, and in the early 1880s the United States Mint was looking to replace it. Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber was instructed to prepare designs for proposed one-, three-, and five-cent pieces, which were to bear similar designs. Only the new five-cent piece was approved, and went into production in 1883. For almost thirty years large quantities of coin of this design were produced to meet commercial demand, especially as coin-operated machines became increasingly popular.

Beginning in 1911, the Mint began work to replace the Liberty Head design, and a new design, which became known as the Buffalo Nickel, went into production in February 1913. Although no 1913 Liberty head nickels were officially struck, five are known to exist. Two of these are in museums and three are in private collections.

In 1920, the numismatic community learned of five Liberty Head nickels dated 1913, all owned by Samuel Brown, a numismatist who attended the American Numismatic Association's annual convention in 1920 and displayed the coins there. He had previously placed an advertisement in the December 1919 issue of The Numismatist soliciting information on these coins, offering to pay US $500 for each and ostensibly purchasing them as a result. However, Brown had been a Mint employee in 1913, and many numismatic historians have concluded that he may have struck them himself (or had them struck) and taken them from the Mint. If true, this was not a unique occurrence; such clandestine strikes were quite common in the 19th century, with the Class II and III 1804 silver dollars perhaps the best-known instance. Other numismatic authorities, such as Q. David Bowers, have questioned this scenario, and pointed out that there are several methods by which the coins could have been legitimately produced; e.g., they may have been lawfully issued by the Mint's Medal Department "for cabinet purposes," or could have been struck as trial pieces in late 1912 to test the following year's new coinage dies. Bowers, however, did not entirely discount the private minting theory.

In January 1924, Samuel Brown sold all five 1913 Liberty Head nickels. The intact lot passed through the hands of several other coin dealers before finally being purchased by Colonel E. H. R. Green, who kept them in his collection until his death in 1936. His estate was then auctioned off, and the five 1913 Liberty Head nickels were purchased by two dealers who broke up the set for the first time. Of the five 1913 Liberty Head nickels, two have proof surfaces and the other three were produced with standard striking techniques.