1866 Shield Five Cent Coin
Type 1 With Rays

As Chief Engraver it fell to James Longacre to design the new coin. Several patterns were created, the most interesting ones featured profiles of Washington or Lincoln. Unfortunatly, the issue of portraying actual persons on coinage was a matter for great debate. In this round of debate, the opponents won. Unable to use Washington or Lincolns portrait, Longacre modified a motif he had used earlier on the two-cent coin. The modified design had a certain geometric balance, but it is artistically quite weak.

1867 Shield Five Cent Coin
Type 2 W/O Rays (1867 only)

Initally, the reverse was controversial. The central device shows a large numeral 5 and is surrounded by thirteen stars with thirteen sets of rays between the stars. Suprisingly, some citizens believed Southern sympathizers had infiltrated the Mint and placed the Confederate “Stars and Bars” on the reverse. Dispite objections, the rays were retained on the reverse the first two years of issue. Early in 1867 the rays were eliminated. This was because Mint officials believed the rays prevented the coins from striking completely.

Shield nickels were struck only at the Philadelphia Mint from 1866 until the design change in 1883. This short-lived series has a surprising number of rarities. The two key issues are from 1877 and 1878, when only proofs were struck. Business strikes for the years 1879 - 1881 were low mintage and command large premiums in all grades. There are two overdates, the 1879/8 an overdated proof and the 1883/2.

In 1883 the Shield nickel was replaced by Charles Barber’s new Greco-Roman Liberty head. However, the Shield nickel was the first nickel five-cent piece. While the design was origionally intended to be temporary, it has changed several times since 1866, but the basic 5-gram “nickel” has remained a mainstay of our coinage system.