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.
 antique SHIELD NICKEL very old 5 cent coin 1882 piece  US $2.05
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 ★1872 Shield Nickel SCARCE coin for a Folder Set★A353 US $49.50
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 OLD NICKEL ROLL SHOWING VF LIBERTY SHIELD 5c ENDS 37 US $16.33
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 1869 Shield Nickel Five Cents US $15.00
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 1868 Shield nickel Five Cents US $15.00
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 1868 Shield Nickel US $.99
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 Replica 1870 SHIELD NICKEL COINS COPY US $.10
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 INTERCEPT SHIELD Buffalo Nickel 1913 1938 Album ISA0030 US $24.69
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 18 P About Good Shield Nickel6882 US $16.95
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 Replica 1883 Shield Nickel Coins COPY US $.10
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 1868 SHIELD NICKEL 617x US $50.00
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 1870 shield nickel US $15.00
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 1867 Shield nickel as shown 6 17d US $15.00
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 1868 Shield nickel as shown 6 17e US $9.99
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 1870 Shield nickel as shown 6 17f US $9.99
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 1869 Shield nickel as shown 6 17g US $14.88
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 1882 SHIELD TYPE 5c NICKEL SHARP OLD RARE COIN US $79.99
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 Replica 1877 Shield Nickel Coins COPY US $.10
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 1866 Shield Nickel w Rays US Coin AG US $21.99
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 1867 NO RAYS SHIELD NICKEL EF US $50.00
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