1879 5C Shield Nickel NGC XF Details

Product Description

An 1879 (Philadelphia Struck) Shield Nickel graded Extremely Fine (XF) Details (Improperly Cleaned) by NGC. This piece displays a grey nickel color with a clear date and very nice visible details. The total mintage for this date & mint: 25,900. Please view our photos for additional information and ask any questions prior to purchase.

The five cent Shield Nickel was a five cent piece minted from 1866-1883. The Shield Nickel set precedents for modern day nickels, such as becoming the first five cent piece to be comprised of copper nickel. Furthermore, it was the first United States five cent piece to be referred to as a ‘nickel’ based on its composition. The Shield Nickels designer, John B. Longacre, based his design off of his previous design for the two cent copper piece. Longacre, known for his plain yet difficult to strike designs was forced to reconfigure the pattern on the reverse because of its difficulty to be minted. This caused several errors and varieties during both the early and later years of this pieces mintage. Collectors will note the 1866 & 1867 Shield Nickels have rays around the number ‘5’ on the reverse while later coins dropped the rays and were left with the original 13 stars representing the original 13 colonies. The parameters set for this piece were as follows: .750 copper, .250 nickel, a total weight of 5 grams, and featured a plain edge with a 20.5 mm diameter. All pieces are void of mintmarks because of strictly being minted at Philadelphia only.