The Shield Nickel was minted from 1866 to 1883. The shield nickel was the first five cent coin minted in the United States. It was also the first coin to feature nickel metal in its composition. The shield nickel was designed by James B. Longacre. The coin was only minted in Philadelphia, so none of the coins features a mint mark.
The obverse of the coin features an ornamental shield topped by a cross. "IN GOD WE TRUST" is centered across the top of the coin and the date is centered across the bottom. The reverse design originally features a number 5 surrounded by 13 stars with rays passing between the stars towards the numeral. This design was only minted in 1866 and early 1867 and is quite rare. This design did not take into account the difficulty of minting such a hard metal which resulting in the rays causing a great lack of detail on the coin. The rays were removed from the coin in early 1867 and the coin continued with this design until the end of its minting run.
 PLEASING 1882 US SHIELD NICKEL  US $24.95
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 1867 SHIELD NICKEL 5 CENT 2ND YEAR US $14.99
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 1868 SHIELD NICKEL 5 CENT 3RD YEAR US $9.99
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 1872 SHIELD NICKEL PCGS VF35 Very Nice US $105.00
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 US Coins 1867 Shield Nickel with Rays US $18.00
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 1877 Shield Five Cents Nickel Exact Size Proof Replica US $.99
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 1878 Shield Five Cents Nickel Exact Size Proof Replica US $.99
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 4 Shield Type Nickels US $18.00
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 Shield Nickels 1868 US $18.00
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 1869 Shield Nickel US $.99
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 1874 Shield Nickel Good US $.99
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 1875 USA SHIELD NICKEL FVFAU HARD TO FIND US $191.38
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 Lot of 6 early nickels Shield Liberty US $9.99 |
 1867 SHIELD NICKEL NICE DETAILS REDUCED FREE SHIPPING US $40.00
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 1882 SHIELD NICKEL IN VERY GOOD CONITION RARE US $1.90
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 1882 SHIELD NICKEL IN GOOD CONITION RARE US $1.90
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 3 Shield Nickels with no date no reserve US $.35
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 1867 Shield Nickel no reserve US $6.99
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 1870 US MINT SILVER SHIELD NICKEL 5 FIVE CENT COIN VG US $25.99
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 Very Nice 1868 Shield Nickel NICE US $3.25
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