In all but a few cases, the mintages for the Liberty Head Nickel occurred in relatively high numbers. Most issues of the series with the exception of three remain relatively available for collectors. This is a contrast to the previous Shield Nickels, which saw mintage levels much more varied, including several years where coins were struck only in proof format.

Charles E. Barber designed the Liberty Nickel. His design featured the head of Liberty on the obverse. She wears a crown and has wheat and cotton woven into her hair with thirteen stars around. The reverse includes a large Roman numeral “V”, which was originally the only indication of the value of the coin. Part of the way through the first year of issue, the word “CENTS” was added. Remaining inscriptions are “United States of America” and “E Pluribus Unum”.

For the Liberty Nickel series:

1. Find the current Liberty Nickel values by year, coin varieties, and specific grade.
2. Aside from a few years, the Liberty Nickel mintages occurred in relatively high numbers. Most of the Philadelphia Mint issues were struck with a mintage of 10 million or greater, with a few notable exceptions. The 1885 and 1886 issues with mintages of 1.4 million and 3.3. Million are considered key dates.
3. Liberty Head 'V' nickels are classic United States coins that are rich in history, errors, and scandal. One of the most valuable United States coins is a Liberty Head nickel.
4. After the lukewarm reception that greeted the Shield nickel in 1866, you might think Mint officials would have done everything in their power to get it right in 1883, when the first Liberty Head nickels were released into circulation. Perhaps they did, but the initial version of the coin earned the Mint another black eye, although this time it.

The Liberty Head Nickel, or 'V' Nickel was minted from 1883 - 1912 with five coins minted in 1913. The composition of these coins is 75% copper and 25% nickel. The Liberty Head Nickel was minted at the Philadelphia mint, and for one year only.

• There are 33 different regular issues of the series. This includes the “without cents” and “with cents” varieties of the first year.
• Production took place at three different mints, although the Denver and San Francisco Mint only struck coins in the final year.
• The average mintage for a regular issue is 18,242,754.
• The lowest mintage occurs for the 1912-S Liberty Nickel at 238,000, while the highest mintage occurs for the 1911 Liberty Nickel at 39,557,639.
• The 1913 Liberty Nickel, which was illegally minted, is believed to have an original mintage of 5.

Liberty Nickel Mintages

Source: LibertyNickel.net

Liberty Head Nickel Value Chart

A design crisis arose almost immediately. On the reverse of the coin the denomination was represented by a large “V,” the Roman numeral for five (and the origin of the Liberty Head Nickel’s other popular name, the V Nickel). The word “cents” did not appear on the coin because no one had thought it was necessary. Unfortunately, the Liberty Head Nickel was not much smaller than the current five-dollar gold piece, and a few dishonest people were gold plating the new nickel and passing it off successfully in rural stores as a five-dollar coin. (Supposedly one of these con artists was a deaf-mute named Josh Tatum, and according to the story this is the origin of the word “josh,” meaning “to fool.”) Mint officials were very concerned by these “racketeer nickels,” so production of the Liberty Head Nickel was abruptly stopped while Barber adjusted the design yet again, making room on the reverse side for the word “cents.”

1911 Liberty Head Nickel Value

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