Rare Nickels

• Rare Nickels Of The 20th Century
• Rare Nickels 1964

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1879, 1880, and 1881 shield nickels all have mintages under 100,000 and they are rare no matter what. Any shield nickel in perfect condition will be worth $100 or more. Liberty aka V Nickels (1883-1913) – With exception of the famous 1913 nickel, the 1885 and 1886 are by far the rarest V Nickels in the series.

• This nickel is rarer that all of the 1924 to 1938 D nickels with the exception of the 1927 D, which is equally as rare. 1913-D Buffalo Nickel — Type 2. Sold at auction: $143,750. Bottom Line: 1913-D Buffalo Nickel — Type 2. The 1913 Type 2 nickels from both the Denver and San Francisco Mints had a low mintage.
• Nickels that are in mint state condition are those that have not been in circulation for a good number of years, thus preserving their mint state. What Should You Look For In A 1941-S Nickel? It may be a little eye-straining to look at a 1941 nickel and its features to determine if it is indeed a rare find.
• The final coin on this list of rare Canadian nickels is the 1948 5 cents. As we discussed in the section on the 1947 dot 5 cent coin, the dies for the 1948 coinage were not available until later in the year so the mint only produced about 1.8 million 1948 nickels.
• Ultimate Guide to Rare Collectible Nickels Coin collectors are always on the lookout for rare collectible coins such as the 1942 nickel and other coins that are worth more than face value. Collecting coins is easier because they are small, but can still fetch a hefty amount if you land the rarest one you can find.

Ultimate Guide to Rare Collectible Nickels

Coin collectors are always on the lookout for rare collectible coins such as the 1942 nickel and other coins that are worth more than face value. Collecting coins is easier because they are small, but can still fetch a hefty amount if you land the rarest one you can find.

Nickels are five-cent coins, but the rare ones can be worth from around thirty cents to a whopping couple million dollars.

If you know how and where to find the most valuable nickels, you may be on your way to the bank after selling them, or if you are an avid collector, you can hold on to them and let them acquire more in value over the years.

The United States Mint, during the late 19^th century and early 20^th centuries, minted nickels, dimes, pennies and quarters that were not made of the usual materials to allocate them in artillery production during World War II, added or removed other features on the coins or there were slight errors in the striking of the coins that made them unique and therefore collectible after a few decades have passed.

Some of the rare collectible nickels may still be in circulation today, especially those that do not have much difference in terms of design from the nickels minted in the present, while some may be sitting idly in a bank, in your purse, under couches, carpets or car mats that are still waiting to be discovered.

This article will take you to the world of collecting rare and valuable nickels that may just make you rich with the ones that may be worth thousands of dollars, even millions, or those that can also fetch upward of a hundred dollars or so.

Most Valuable Nickels Today

There are different nickels with different values, and each of them varies in features and characteristics that determine how much they are worth. Here is a list of the most valuable nickels, in order of their values.

• 1913 Liberty Nickel: This is the most valuable nickel ever recorded. It fetched a staggering $3.7 million dollars. One of the determinants on how much a coin is worth is its rarity, or the number of coin produced. In this case there were only five Liberty nickels ever produced with 1913 on it. It was also the very first coin that was worth $100,000 in the 1970s, and also the first one to fetch $1,000,000 back in 1996.
• 1916 Buffalo Nickel: This fetched around $3,000. It is a far cry from $3 million, but hey, $3,000 is also a very far cry from five cents. The reason why this type of nickel is very expensive is because it is an “error nickel.” The buffalo on the face of the nickel only has three legs. It is so-called the error nickel because the three-legged buffalo was not struck as three-legged. While striking the buffalo nickel, the mint erased one of the legs of the buffalo, and the result was a three-legged one. The error nickels were not recalled, so they were distributed for circulation along with the error-free nickels.
• 1877 Shield Nickel: This is worth $2,100. This nickel is a proof nickel, meaning it was only made as a sample for the real nickel to be issued for circulation, but for some reason a number of it was released into circulation.
• 1878 Shield Nickel: This is also a proof nickel, which fetched $1,100. Most, if not all, of this kind of nickel are worn because of the exchange of hands over man years that is why it is cheaper than the 1877 Shield Nickel.
• 1918/7-D Buffalo Nickel: This is worth $1,000. It is also an error nickel, much like the 1916/16 coin, where the buffalo only had three legs instead of the usual four.
• 1936-D Buffalo Nickel: This is also an error coin, but unlike the 1918 and 1916 error coins, this one exhibits a three-and-a-half-legged buffalo, which was a result of over-polishing the die used to strike the coin. This coins amounts to $750, with a grade of Good-4.
• 1885 Liberty Head Nickel: This nickel, valued at $585, is a key coin. A key is a date or mintmark combination that is not often found in the coin series it belongs to, which makes it more valuable than semi-keys.
• 1937-D Buffalo Nickel: This is another error coin valued at $535. It has a three-legged buffalo on its reverse side. The missing leg of the animal was caused by over-polishing the die.
• ​1880 Shield Nickels: There were only 20,000 1880 Shield Nickels minted, so it is very rare to find one in good condition. This coin is worth $500.
• 1879 Shield Nickels: There are also very few 1879 Shield Nickels out there, and they are worth $390.

There are other nickels belonging to different series and mint dates that are also worth hundreds of dollars or less.

TheValuable and CollectibleNickel Series

Rare Nickels Of The 20th Century

There are four nickel series ever minted by the United States Mint: shield, liberty, buffalo and Jefferson nickel series that are worth several times their face value. There are a lot of rare collectible coins in each of these series, and if you know where and how to find them, you just may land the most valuable one.

1. Shield Nickel Series

This was first minted in 1866. The need for shield nickels was a result of a shortage in coin circulation during that time, and the old coins were made of copper, silver and gold. But the silver and gold coins were no longer produced because the value of the bullion was worth more than the coin’s face value.

Congress then thought of a way to make coins whose face value is still more than the production value. This is where the nickel composition came into play.

Joseph Wharton lobbied in congress for coins to be made of 25% nickel and 75% copper, a far cry from the copper, silver and gold combination.

Ironically, Wharton owned a nickel mining company, so when the Congress approved of the new coin composition, Wharton was awarded the business of providing the nickel for the minting of the new coins.

Before the five-cent coin was produced in the new composition, the three-cent coin took the first striking. Congress then approved for five-cent coins to be produced in the same nickel-copper proportion as the three-cent coin.

But then the United States Mint hit a snag when they realized that the new nickel-copper composition was a lot harder than the gold-silver-copper composition, and it posed difficulties in minting. The diameter of the new five-cent coin was also smaller than the rest, and striking the coin is a lot more difficult.

There were two shield nickel design types: with rays and with no rays on the reverse of the coin. Eventually the no-rays coin was the one adopted after it was proven to be easier to strike than the with-rays coin. 1883 was the last time the Shield Nickel was produced, as it was then replaced by the Liberty Head Nickel series.

2. Liberty Head Nickel Series

This was the second series of the five-cent coin.

Production of this new series started in 1883 and finished in 1913. Charles Barber was the designer of the Liberty Head nickel.

The Liberty Head nickel was so named because on the coin’s obverse, Liberty’s head in profile was showed, with a big V on the reverse.

1883 and 1913 Liberty Head nickels are the most valuable in this series, and most of which were struck in Philadelphia, so you will see a P on the reverse, indicating where the coin was minted.

There were only five 1913 Liberty Head nickels. The very small number of the 1913 nickels is because they were not meant to be created; they were minted illegally for a man named William Brown, a United States Mint employee.

Maybe he wanted to have a unique souvenir from his job so he created these five Liberty nickels for his own perusal, but over the years these five rare nickels were discovered and have since been an amazement for numismatists.

3. Buffalo Nickel Series

This came after the Liberty Head Series. The series was produced from 1913 to 1938.

The design of the buffalo nickel was created by James E. Fraser. The obverse featured a profile of an American Indian, which was actually a combination of three American Indian chiefs: John Big Tree, Iron Tail and Two Moons.

On the reverse side is the image of the American Bison, or buffalo as it was more commonly known. The buffalo was Fraser’s take on Black Diamond, which was an American Bison contained at the New York Zoological Gardens.

This series produced two error coins: the 1936-D and the 1937-D coins. The 1936-D featured a three-and-a-half legged buffalo, the front leg of which was not fully struck, and the 1937-D coin featured a three-legged buffalo, the hind leg of which was missing from the die.

4. Jefferson Nickel Series

This replaced the Buffalo Nickel Series. The production of the Jefferson nickels started in 1938 up to the present.

This is also the longest-running series in all four of the nickel series in the United States. It features the profile of the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, thus the name Jefferson nickel.

Felix O. Schlag was the original designer of the Jefferson nickel, and ever since then there have been very little variations on the five cents’ design.

The design on the reverse side of the cone is Jefferson’s home, the Monticello.

The most valuable Jefferson nickels are the early coins, produced in 1938 and beyond, such as the 1939 nickel, although they may not be worth more than a few hundred dollars, compared to other coins in other nickel series.

The 1941 nickel can be worth from ten cents to four dollars, which is not much if you think about it, but is still worth more than its face value, which is five cents. With the rare wartime 1942 nickel, no mint mark can be seen on its reverse. This was minted in Philadelphia, as evidenced in the P mark over the Monticello dome.

Tips on How to Find Collectible Nickels

If you are keen on being a numismatist or to just satisfy your curiosity about old, unique and valuable US coins, you can start looking for them, sort them out and sift through them to find if you have a valuable nickel or two. There are several things you can do to find a valuable nickel. Here are some.

• Go to your local bank and exchange a few dollars for rolls of five-cent coins. Since still a large number of old nickels are still in circulation to date, you can try your luck on your bank. They may have these rare coins in their possession. Sift through the rolls of nickels and examine each one to see if you have hit the jackpot.
• You may find a Buffalo Nickel, but no date is printed on either side, and it still may fetch a high value. The key is to be thorough in looking for valuable coins. Some features that make a coin rare and valuable may not be visible to the naked eye, so you have to be vigilant in checking each nickel in your possession. Use a magnifying glass to examine each nickel and you just may find a rare nickel from the batch.
• Have a rare nickel guide handy when you sift through your coins. There are some features that you have to look out for, and if you are not familiar with them, you may just miss the find of a lifetime. You can find a rare nickel guide on the Internet listing the features and elements that you have to see to make sure that what you have is worth more than its face value.

Finding rare and collectible coins is not as hard if you think about it. All you have to have is a keen eye and the knowledge about the coins and you will surely find a nickel or two that are rare and can fetch a higher value.

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Most of the coins in your pocket, purse or couch cushions aren’t worth more than face value. Cynics might even say most nickels aren’t even worth keeping! However, jingling around with all of that common metal money, you just might find rare nickels worth much more than their original five-cent amount.
Many US nickels are prized by coin collectors (and foreign coins are, too). Some (like the new nickels in circulation) bear the familiar likeness of our third president, Thomas Jefferson. Other, older valuable nickels feature the profile of an Indian one one side and a buffalo on the other. Knowing precisely which of these pieces of metal currency is valuable requires the expertise of a knowledgeable rare coin and currency appraisal specialist. Bring your potentially valuable nickels to our Hendersonville store near Las Vegas to determine if your rare coins are worth their face value, worth a fortune, or (if they’re fake) worth nothing.

Buffalo Nickels Background

Sculptor James Earl Fraser used his considerable skills to craft a number of coins, including the buffalo nickel. He created both sides of the coin–the face features the profile of a Native American man, reportedly a composite of several noted tribal chiefs. The reverse is a buffalo standing on a mound, originally with the denomination “five cents” above it. Legend has it that the likeness of the buffalo was modeled on a New York City Zoo resident named Black Diamond.
This rare nickel entered circulation in 1913; about halfway through the year, the design was changed with the denomination recessed below the coins rim. Its last minting took place in 1938.

Buffalo Nickels vs. Indian Head Nickels

Some civilians call these nickels “buffalo nickels.” Other people refer to the coins as “Indian head nickels.” However, while the two names might cause some confusion, dealers and collectors know that the two names refer to the same coin.

Rare Nickels 1964

Buffalo Nickels: Value

While buffalo nickels are old and can be beautiful to look at, only some of these antique coins hold significant value. Most of these coins, because they often are passed down from generation to generation, hold more sentimental value than monetary. If that’s the case, they can be carefully washed and kept in a place of honor instead of being sold.
However, a small number of buffalo nickels are worth more than just five cents. Thanks largely to minting errors–buffalo with 3 or 3.5 legs, overprinted numbers and so on–some of the coins can fetch tens of thousands of dollars at auction. To determine exactly if you’re holding nickels worth keeping or selling, get in touch with an experienced coin dealer for an appraisal.

How Much Cash Could I Get for a Rare Buffalo Nickel?

The below guide gives a general idea of which coins are worth your dealer’s attention, their mint marks, and their estimated top worth (if in certified mint condition). Please note these are only estimates and not a guarantee of your coin’s actual value–they may be worth more or less, depending on their condition and unique features. Again, we encourage you to reach out to a specialist to get a specific pricing appraisal.

1913 Nickel

• P: up to $175
• D: up to $480
• S: up to $1,750

1916 Nickel

• P: up to $114
• D: up to $1,780
• S: up to $180

1917 Nickel

• P: up to $185
• D: up to $90
• S: up to $1,750

1918 Nickel

• P: up to $32
• D: up to $3,300
• S: up to $1,760

1919 Nickel

• P: up to $80
• D: up to $2,350
• S: up to $1,155

1924 Nickel

• P: up to $15
• D: up to $3,000
• S: up to $14,000

1926 Nickel

• P: up to $26
• D: up to $1,100
• S: up to $7,600

1927 Nickel

• P: up to $85
• D: up to $400
• S: up to $5,000

1935 Nickel

• P: up to $125
• D: up to $525
• S: up to $250

1936 Nickel

• P: up to $67
• D: up to $110
• S: up to $100

1937 Nickel

• P: up to $90
• D: up to $50
• S: up to $100

2005 Nickel

The US Mint created and circulated a new nickel in 2005. The coin features an offset portrait of Thomas Jefferson on one side, and a buffalo on the reverse. This nickel frequently is referred to as a “buffalo nickel” because of the animal depicted on it; unfortunately, this coin is not worth more than face unless it is a proof, in uncirculated condition or bears a unique minting error.

Background of the Valuable Jefferson Nickel

The Jefferson nickel replaced the buffalo nickel in 1938 and has been the US Mint’s five-cent piece of choice ever since. This rare nickel features a profile of President Jefferson on the front, and his home Monticello on the back. This design was arrived at after a contest judged by the Mint’s director and three sculptor, with artist Felix Schlag’s winning idea taking home the $1,000 prize.

The look and the materials used in making the coin have changed over the years. The nickel metal was shifted to silver during World War II so that nickel could be used in the war effort. Schlag’s initials (not included in the original design) were added in 1966. Also, a number of special decorations have been shown on the reverse, such as the Lewis and Clark expedition in 2004-05. And, Jefferson’s profile was given a facelift in 2006.

How Much Cash Could I Get for a Rare Jefferson Nickel

The below guide gives a general idea of which coins are worth your dealer’s attention, their mint marks, and their estimated top worth (if in certified mint condition)..

1938 Nickel

• D: up to $150
• S: up to $50
• No mint mark: up to $1,800

1939 Nickel

• D: up to $200
• S: up to $80
• No mint mark: up to $880

1940 Nickel

• D: up to $120
• S: up to $50
• No mint mark: up to $120

1941 Nickel

• D: up to $100
• S: up to $150
• No mint mark: up to $175

1942 Nickel

• D: up to $100
• S: up to $145
• No mint mark: up to $75

1943 Nickel

• P: up to $450
• D: up to $1,400
• S: up to $65

1944 Nickel

• P: up to $420
• D: up to $1,750
• S: up to $85

1945 Nickel

• P: up to $280
• D: up to $140
• S: up to $120

1955 Nickel

• D: up to $110
• No mint mark: up to $165

1962 Nickel

• D: up to $65
• No mint mark: up to $15

1963 Nickel

• D: up to $102
• No mint mark: up to $32

1964 Nickel

• D: up to $150
• No mint mark: up to $43

1976 Nickel

• P: up to $1
• D: up to $440
• S: up to $4

2004 Nickel

The limited-circulation “Keelboat” nickel features a special handshake decoration celebrating the Louisiana Purchase. While the design is striking, the value is less impressive–a certified-mint Keelboat nickel fetches less than a dollar at auction.

What Do the P, D, and S Stand for on a Nickel?

The P, D, and S stand for the location at which the rare coin was minted. “P” stands for the Philadelphia mint; “D” stands for the Denver mint; and “S” stands for the San Francisco mint.

What are Nickels Made Of?

Currently, nickels are made up of their namesake metal, but they include more copper–about 25% nickel and the remaining 75% copper, according to the US Mint. This pairing of metals has been favored by the Mint since the 1800s, thanks to its durability and ability to create quality images on the coins. The nickel briefly shifted to silver during World War II, and it went back to the nickel-copper blend after the war ended. That may shift again; by the end of 2013, the cost of making the $0.05 coin had shifted to $0.09.
Interested in finding out just how much your ancient nickels might be worth? Reach out to Las Vegas Jewelry & Coin Exchange online or by calling 702-986-0153. Our rare coin and currency experts will appraise your coins while you wait, at no cost to you, and offer a fair price if you choose to sell.