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.
 Replica 1877 SHIELD NICKEL COINS COPY  US $.10
|
 Replica 1882 SHIELD NICKEL COINS COPY US $.10
|
 Replica 1873 SHIELD NICKEL COINS COPY US $.10
|
 Replica 1876 SHIELD NICKEL COINS COPY US $.10
|
 Replica 1881 SHIELD NICKEL COINS COPY US $.10
|
 Replica 1870 SHIELD NICKEL COINS COPY US $.10
|
 Replica 1875 SHIELD NICKEL COINS COPY US $.10
|
 Replica 1878 SHIELD NICKEL COINS COPY US $.10
|
 Replica 1879 SHIELD NICKEL COINS COPY US $.10
|
 Replica 1872 SHIELD NICKEL COINS COPY US $.10
|
 Replica 1874 SHIELD NICKEL COINS COPY US $.10
|
 Replica 1880 SHIELD NICKEL COINS COPY US $.10
|
 Replica 1883 SHIELD NICKEL COINS COPY US $.10
|
 Replica 1871 SHIELD NICKEL COINS COPY US $.10
|
 1867 Shield Nickel US $1.51
|
 1866 RAYS US SHIELD NICKEL US $31.46
|
 PLEASING 1882 US SHIELD NICKEL US $24.95
|
 1867 SHIELD NICKEL 5 CENT 2ND YEAR US $14.99
|
 1868 SHIELD NICKEL 5 CENT 3RD YEAR US $9.99
|
 1872 SHIELD NICKEL PCGS VF35 Very Nice US $105.00
|