Shield Nickel
The Shield Nickel (1866-1883) .750 copper .250 nickel
James Barton Longacre designed this coin during his employment with the U.S. mint as Chief Engraver, between 1844 and his death in 1869.
Joseph Wharton was a wealthy businessman who used his contacts with congressmen and senate members to influence the use of nickel in this five cent piece. I’m not sure of Wharton’s intentions, but since he was the owner of the Gap Nickel Mine in Lancaster County, PA, and the American Nickel Refinery in Camden, NJ, I can take an educated guess. Nickel was chosen for in this coin even over many protests from mint officials due to the hardness of the metal. The dies had to stand up to a lot of stress because of this metal choice. Usually, coins with a mint error such as a die crack become more collectible. In the case of the Shield Nickel it’s often the opposite, because it’s so difficult to find a well struck coin without a die crack.
For an interesting read, check out “The Shield Five Cent Series” by Edward l. Fletcher, Jr, which is where some of the information for this entry came from.
A Faustian Collection 
Where’s your Shield Nickel with Rays?
After reading your post I looked through some old books and read about Mister Wharton. Very interesting stuff. He also supplied the mint with nickel for the 3 cent nickel coins.
Wharton and his supporters also pushed for the Five cent coin , which was to weigh 77.16 grains the equivalent of 5 grams. Officially the coin was meant to promote the metric system.
I wish I had one of the ray variety that were only minted from (1866-1867). It is said the Longacre originally incorporated the rays into the design as a secret symbol of his sympathies for the South.
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Shield Nickel – Colecty.com said this on April 17, 2016 at 5:48 pm |