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The U.S. Shield Nickel — the Ugliest Coin Ever Made?
Not to mention corruption, politics and hoarding!
The story of the first U.S. five cent nickel coin includes corruption and politics, money supply and hoarding. Add to that the fact that even one of the people most in favor of its production called its reverse design “a tombstone surmounted by a cross and overhung by weeping willows”.
A well known publication for coin collectors once described it as “the ugliest of all known coins”. I might disagree, but it certainly is a contender. Parts of the American public had other reasons to dislike it too: some thought the original reverse design was reminiscent of the Confederate “Stars and Bars” flag. As the first issue of this coin was in 1866, and the U.S. Civil War had only ended in 1865, it is easy to see how emotions would still be raw over that issue.
Nickel Coinage
The really important distinction for this coinage was that it was among the first denominations other than the one cent coin to not be made of precious metal. We’d had half dimes since the very beginning of the mint and still made them until 1873, but those were silver and quite small. A three cent nickel coin had been minted in 1865; the success of that encouraged the mint to try a nickel five cent coin. They even briefly considered using the design from the 3 cent coin. That might have been confusing even if the size were different.
They were also being “encouraged” by a wealthy and influential individual who happened to own nickel mines. There was real justification for getting away from silver coins — these were being hoarded because of the end of the Civil War and there was a damaging shortage of small change in the economy. Naturally, Joseph Wharton (the man with the nickel mines) wanted the mint to use more nickel than copper, but there were problems with that desire.
Nickel is hard. That’s why we use it in armor plating. Striking nickel coins is difficult, as the mint had already learned in 1857 with the Flying Eagle Cent. That coin was only 12% nickel, these three and five cent nickel coins were specified to be 25% nickel, which would make them that much harder.
