1883 Shield nickel PCGS-MS63 with major die cracks. The forgotten nickels. Portrait coins seem mor

wingedliberty

I just purchased this great nickel from WHRC. 1883 5c PCGS-MS63 Die cracks. I believe these are great coins and very historic. It seems that smaller coins and those lacking liberty and or portraits in general, seem to be less popular with collectors, as I see very few silver trimes , two cents pieces (except for Russ and a few others), and Shield nickels posted here.
It would seem that with most collectors, ( I am probably in this group on a subconscious level), prefer powerful depictions of liberty and or presidential portraits , etc, other busts , etc.
I think these "minor" coins are a phenomenal area to collect. I have recently renewed my interest in these so called "minors". They are just too cheap and historic to avoid. In higher grades, it would seem that they are bargains.
In the case of this nickel, nickel being a hard metal, the planchet did not hold up well , particularly as the die life accelerated. This nice LDS (late die state) example is a beauty.
I would like your thoughts on it, as well as on the psychological differential between numismatic preferences for portrait vs. non-portrait coinage. I find this fascinating.

Happy collecting as always.

lordmarcovan

I've heard the two-cent and Shield nickel designs criticized for being rather dull and uninspiring, but I never totally agreed. Granted, there could have been room for improvement, but I like the designs just fine.

Nice nickel.

I'm lookin' for one in 63, as well, but I want a cameo proof.

wingedliberty

Oh, yes the cameo proofs rock, It may be a target on my wantlist for FUN.

mojorizn

I have always felt that symbolic representations of Liberty or freedom or some other American ideal are far more interesting and appealing than drab busts of dead presidents. The designers of the early coinage were creating a vision of the new country's values and this new idea of what our country stood for was eloquently portrayed by the Flowing Hair designs of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The return to classicism in the 1830's ended up standardizing the designs of our coinage for the next 80 years and I'm sure that citizens at the end of this period in our coinage found the Liberty Seated and Barber designs as tired and redundant as we find our own coin designs now.

What we need is another Teddy Roosevelt. Coin designs exploded artistically during the period between 1907-1921, which, ironically, included the patriotic wave that surrounded and followed WWI.

It seems that with every burst of patriotism (prior to the coin laws forbidding design changes until a minimum term is met) our coinage has benefited. With coin designs, the less government regulation, the better.

Mojo

wingedliberty

mojo:
Less government interference and more artistic freedom is a goal shared by all numismatists, as far as I know. Whether it has a snowball's chance in Hades is another story.
I hear you about the dead presidents, and thats exactly my point. I love shields and am growing to love them even more, the 2cent pieces as well.

MacCoin

I pretty much like almost anything with a nice strong die crack but the sheild isn't one of the better designs.

mgoodm3

How can you tell what the obverse is without a headshot.

wingedliberty

In most cases the obverse is the side which has the date, there are some exceptions.

wingedliberty

The Lewis and Clark Gold commem would be a great exception to the above rule. Talk about a two headed coin!

MacCoin

state quarters the date is on the rev.

wingedliberty

There is a great article in the latest Numismatist on Shield nickels. It did serve as partial inspiration for me toward this purchase. I also have Fletcher's book on the series and am having alot of fun discovering new varieties within the series.

BillJones

Art critics have generally liked the shield design on the two cent piece, but they have compared the one on the shield nickel to a "tombstone." The problem with the nickel is that the design seems to have no depth. The “With Rays” type was better in that regard, but it was soon replaced because of production problems.

The die breaks that the first poster mentioned on the coin he had recently purchased summed up the problem with the shield nickel in particular and many of the 19th century copper-nickel coins in general. Nickel is very hard, and it is murder on dies. For that reason we often see die breaks and weak strikes on Flying Eagle cents, Nickel Three cent pieces, Shield nickels and even a few copper-nickel Indian cents. One of the solutions was to make the dies more shallow, and that way out as be used right down to the modern copper-nickel clad state quarters.

wingedliberty

Yes, I have also noticed this on 3cent nickels as well. I generally enjoy die cracks very much. Its almost a snap shot of the event in time as far as the stress that was incurred by the planchet. This is very intriguing to me.