THE LIBERTY HEAD V-NICKEL

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HOW ABOUT A NICKEL WORTH $3,737,500.00
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Time was, even as recently as the 50's and 60's, when in
the good old USA it was sort of customary for a man to
carry around a pocket-full of loose change---and he was
known even to rattle it on occasion. There were probably
a number of reasons for this.

For one thing, during the latter part of the nineteenth
century, nickels, for example, would do what a quarter does
today (and likely more). "Five and Ten Cent Stores" were
abundant in any America town of any size. So many things
cost a nickel...like a beer, a cup of coffee, a hamburger,
or an ice cream cone!

You could get a bowl of chili, a popular item, for a dime or
fifteen cents. A piece of pie was a dime. A nice "plate
lunch" would run you maybe thirty-five cents. A shave and
haircut might have cost you six-bits. A bath in a barber shop
was likely fifty cents. A shoe-shine was a dime, but there
was usually a five cent tip if one was feeling magnanimous!

Another reason for the pocket-full of loose coins was that
serious folding money was not to be found among the
common folks. Cash was always scarce in the early
years of the Republic, and on into the Twentieth Century.
Too, this pocket full of coins may have been a loan from the
wife's "egg money."

In tracing the history and habits of the people of an era,
their currency is a major and fascinating subject. What
kinds of coins did they have? What symbolic images
were struck on their pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters,
half dollars, dollars, and gold pieces? What were the coins
our grandfathers carried when they plowed, clerked,
delivered mail, barbered, ran cafes, taught school, and
lived their lives as Americans? Did they carry silver, gold,
or alloy-type coins?

Our subject is one particularly interesting US coin---known
as "The Liberty Head 'V' NICKEL." The "V" is for "five." This
nickel was issued in the US from 1883-1912. It was
commonly called the "Liberty Head Nickel," or the "V Nickel."

The famous Buffalo Head nickel officially replaced the
"V Nickel" in 1913, but not until someway, somehow,
someone---had struck five "V Nickels" with an unintended
"1913". It is today uncertain as to how and why they even
exist, but yes---there are five extant---and one sold for a
whopping $3,737,500 in 2010.

The Liberty Head V Nickel carries a strange and unusual
history. The reverse side (tails) had the "V" for "five" cents.
But...somehow the "cents" was not designed on the coin.
The mint folks apparently thought the "V" was enough.

When profit can be made, whether legally or illegally,
"enterprising fundsters" will spot any loophole. And that's
what happened with the V nickel. It was about the size
of a five dollar gold piece. Accordingly, they gold-plated
the coin, reeded the edge in some cases, and with the
big gold "V" showing, passed if off as five gold dollars!

Before 1883 ended, the US Mints were forced to redesign
the nickel and add "cents" to the reverse.

And then there is the famous tale of the deaf-mute gentle-
man named Josh Tatum. He somehow came into a supply
of the gold-plated "V Nickels," and began buying small five-
cent items with these coins and receiving change of $4.95.

He was finally caught and charged with fraud. His attorney
got him off, according to the story, by saying: "He duly paid
for his merchandise and merely accepted the $4.95 as a gift.
After all, what could he do, being a deaf-mute and all?"

Many of us old timers came along, one might say, about the
close of the reign of our great favorite Buffalo Nickel, a run
that began, we remember, in 1913, as the "V Nickel" left the
stage. How marvelous and symbolic the Buffalo was to a little
kid, just really getting out onto the world's stage.

In the forties, a Buffalo Nickel would buy all manner of goods
necessary to a young boy's health and happiness...such as
a Snicker, Hershey, Baby Ruth, Black Cow, Walnettos,
two sticks of licorice, a "plumgranate" (across from La Casita),
one half a movie, a sack of pop corn, a five cent hamburger by
the State Theater, a twelve ounce Pepsi, and you know what
else? A pack of Juicy Fruit!! See why we loved THAT coin, and
how handy nickels were!

Many modern folks, who probably don't care much one way or
the other about coins or their history (maybe preferring folding
money), may have never seen or heard of a Liberty Head
V NIckel. I myself, own ONE. It is a 1903.

My 1903 came from someone's pocket---who knows? Maybe
my grandfather carried it in his overalls when plowing. Maybe
Ike or Patton carried it in their cadet uniforms at West Point.
A doughboy might have had it in his muddy uniform in a
WWI trench. (See what I mean about the wonder of coins in
history!)

In closing, I remind you: Be sure to always check your nickels
when you receive change. Who knows? What if they erroneously
struck SIX of those 1913 "V Nickels" in January of 1913, instead
of five? Then there's still one out there and it might come to you
in your change---a coin not known to exist at all!

You might have a $5,000,000.00 coin on your hands! (And isn't
it odd that mistakes can prove to be...so valuable!)

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BY MIL
09/07/13