The 1913 Liberty Head Nickel: History, Auction Records, and the Story of America’s Rarest Nickel
At a Glance:
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- The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is the rarest and most valuable U.S. nickel.
- The most expensive 1913 Liberty Head nickel sold at one auction for $4.56 million.
- On this page, learn about key details, history, and notable auction records for this storied coin.
The 1913 Liberty Head Nickel – A Coin Collector’s Dream
In 2022, a 1913 Liberty Head nickel sold for $4,200,000 at auction. This record-breaking auction sale came as no surprise to rare coin collectors. The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is widely considered the rarest U.S. nickel, as well as one of the most valuable coins in the world. Only five 1913 Liberty Head nickels are known to exist, and surviving specimens are regularly auctioned for millions of dollars. It is very likely that the coin’s value will climb even higher the next time it hits the auction houses – if its new owners are willing to let it go!
Why is the 1913 Liberty Head nickel so valuable? 1913 Liberty Head nickels are valuable because of their rarity. The coin itself was never meant to enter circulation; the five surviving specimens were snuck out of the United States Mint by United States Mint employees. This isn’t an uncommon tale among rare U.S. coins. Many of the most valuable circulation coins from the United States were illegally removed from the mint and carefully snuck into circulation.
Even among other rare coins, the 1913 Liberty Head nickel is especially coveted by collectors. Our goal is to explore why this coin is the Holy Grail for American coin collectors. To understand what makes the 1913 Liberty Head nickel so valuable, we’ll explore the coin’s history, relevant auction records, and the story behind America’s rarest nickel.
On this page, learn more about the 1913 Liberty Head nickel’s history, rarity, and value.
The 1913 Liberty Head Nickel – Designs, History, and Mintage Figures
The Liberty nickel was an American five-cent coin minted from 1883 until its discontinuation in 1913. On the obverse, the coin features the head of Lady Liberty surrounded by thirteen stars. Liberty Head nickels are also sometimes referred to as “V nickels” because of the coin’s reverse-side artwork, which includes the letter “V” surrounded by a wreath. This series of nickels is popular among coin collectors but was officially discontinued in 1913.
How many 1913 Liberty nickels were minted? The U.S. Mint did not officially produce any Liberty Head nickels in 1913, but at least five 1913 Liberty Head nickels made it out of the mint and into circulation. It is unclear how these coins were created, but it is likely that a few rogue U.S. Mint employees minted them in secret before sneaking them out of the facility. We probably won’t ever learn how mint employees managed to steal discontinued coins from the U.S. Mint, since doing so has always been a crime.
Here’s What Makes the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel So Valuable
As of 2024, only five 1913 Liberty Head nickels are known to exist. The first 1913 Liberty Head nickel was uncovered during a Chicago Coin Club meeting. One year later, rumors began to swirl in numismatist circles that not one – but five – 1913 Liberty Head nickels belonged to Samuel Brown, a prominent numismatist. Brown had displayed his previously unknown coins at an American Numismatic Association convention.
Because Samuel Brown had worked at the United States Mint in 1913, some historians believe that it was Brown who illegally struck the coins before sneaking them out of the mint. There is no definitive consensus on whether or not Samuel Brown was the source of all five original 1913 Liberty Head nickels.
What we do know is that the 1913 Liberty Head nickel has since become a proverbial Holy Grail for coin collectors around the world. Because of the limited mintage of only 5 specimens and the popularity of the Liberty Head nickel series, the 1913 Liberty Head nickel is indisputably the rarest of all American 5-cent pieces.
How Much is a 1913 Liberty Head Nickel Worth?
Samuel Brown, first known owner of a 1913 Liberty Head nickel, publicly offered to buy the coin for $500 in 1919, the equivalent of over $9,000 today. Even if we account for inflation, Brown certainly got a good deal if he purchased his five coins for the meager sum of $9,000.
How much is a 1913 Liberty Head nickel worth today? There are only five 1913 Liberty Head nickels currently in circulation, and each one is worth well over $3,000,000. Professional Coin Grading Services (PCGS) estimates that a 1913 Liberty Head nickel in PR66 condition is worth approximately $6,250,000.
Estimating the value of a 1913 Liberty Head nickel is tricky because of how few of these coins exist. Over the past two decades, realized auction prices for the coveted coin have grown consistently. Consider the MS66 1913 Liberty Head nickel, for instance. The coin sold at auction for $1,840,000 in 2001 and, in 2018, reached a total sale price of $4,560,000 at a 2018 Stack’s Bowers auction.
Although the limited number of 1913 Liberty Head nickels in circulation makes it difficult to assign a concrete value to the rare coin, condition seems to play an important role in determining how much a 1913 Liberty Head nickel is worth.
1913 Liberty Head Nickel Auction Records
The most valuable 1913 Liberty Head nickel realized a price of $4.56 million at an auction hosted by Stack’s Bowers. This coin, graded PR66 by PCGS, is widely considered the finest and most well-preserved coin out of all five surviving 1913 Liberty Head nickels.
Even in comparably poor condition, all five known 1913 Liberty Head nickels are worth well over $1 million. Here’s an overview of known auction sale records for the 1913 Liberty Head nickel:
| Coin/Condition | Auction Record | Auction House and Date |
|---|---|---|
|
1913 Liberty Head Nickel PCGS-Graded PR63 |
$3,172,500 USD |
April 2013 |
|
1913 Liberty Head Nickel NGC-Graded PR64 |
$3,737,500 USD |
January 2010 |
|
1913 Liberty Head Nickel PCGS-Graded PR66 |
$4,560,000 USD |
August 2018 |
|
1913 Liberty Head Nickel NGC-Graded PR66 |
1,593 Troy Ounces (49.5 Kilos, 109.2 lbs.) |
March 2001 |
It seems likely that the value of a 1913 Liberty Head nickel will continue to increase in the future. Because of the coin’s limited mintage and the fact that it will never be freshly minted again, the five remaining 1913 Liberty Head nickels can only really become more valuable as time goes on.
About the Liberty Head Nickel
For casual U.S. coin collectors, the Liberty Head nickel is not particularly recognizable. The iconic Buffalo nickel replaced the Liberty Head nickel in 1913 and has since become a classic for American coin enthusiasts. Even the designs on the Liberty Head nickel seem irregular compared to what we’ve come to expect from American five-cent pieces.
The obverse of the coin, penned by mint designer Charles Barber, features a portrait of Lady Liberty. Here, she wears a “Liberty” coronet and keeps her hair in a bun. Thirteen stars surround her, representing the original thirteen colonies of the United States. The reverse side of the coin is abnormal and features the letter “V,” the Roman numeral for the number five.
The strange “V” on the reverse of the Liberty Head nickel is why “V nickel” has become shorthand for the coin’s actual name. The Roman numeral is actually supposed to represent the coin’s value – five cents. The United States Mint didn’t use this design quirk on future coins. After the Buffalo nickel which followed the Liberty Head series, subsequent five-cent pieces minted in the United States were given a human portrait on the obverse and another artistic design on the reverse.
Why is the Liberty Head nickel popular? Coin collectors today love the Liberty Head nickel for a couple of reasons. First, the coin features a unique set of designs that we don’t see on other circulating coins from the same era. Second, Liberty Head nickels were minted during a pivotal time in American history. The conclusion of the series in 1913 happened just one year before the onset of World War One.
Liberty Head Nickel Values
Despite being overshadowed by the ever-popular Buffalo nickel, the Liberty Head nickel remains a coveted collectible for rare coin collectors. How much is a Liberty Head nickel worth? Many Liberty Head nickels in moderate to good condition sell for $3 or less, although the rarest Liberty Head nickels regularly sell for millions of dollars. The rarest among these Liberty Head nickels is the 1913 variant, which was never officially released by the U.S. Mint and is worth considerably more than a million dollars.
It might not be quite as recognizable as the Buffalo nickel, but the Liberty Head nickel is widely considered one of the finest rare coins in American history. As for the 1913 Liberty Head nickel, it is difficult to find a coin anywhere near as rare and valuable as this gem.
Key Dates – Liberty Head Nickel
For new coin collectors, key dates refer to specific years in a given coin series that are especially difficult to find or purchase. Every type of coin has a set of key dates, and collecting these key dates is one of the most exciting (but challenging) parts of coin collecting.
Most Liberty Head nickel dates are relatively easy to find, but the series does have three big key dates that can be harder to source than the rest.
What are the key dates for the Liberty Head nickel? Popular key dates in the Liberty Head nickel series include 1885, 1886, and 1912-S. Of course, the most valuable key date Liberty Head nickel is the 1913 variant, a rare coin with a known mintage of only five.
But how much is a key date Liberty Head nickel worth? A circulated 1885 Liberty Head nickel sells for anywhere from $235 to $2,600, depending on its condition. 1886 Liberty Head nickels are worth between $55 and $58,750, which is the current auction record for this key date Liberty Head nickel. 1912-S Liberty Head nickels are similarly valuable and can range from $80 in poor condition to more than $20,000 when graded near-uncirculated.
The value of a key date Liberty Head nickel is highly dependent on the coin’s condition or grade. Certified Liberty Head nickels in excellent condition are worth considerably more than coins from the same year given a poor grade. Liberty Head nickels with 1885, 1886, or 1912-S dates can be worth a lot of money, so we’d recommend having these coins professionally graded. Both Professional Coin Grading Services and the Numismatic Guaranty Company offer paid coin grading.
Final Thoughts: Exploring One of America’s Most Coveted Rare Coins
Numismatic historians aren’t quite sure how five discontinued 1913 Liberty Head nickels escaped the United States Mint, but coin collectors certainly aren’t complaining. With an official mintage of zero and an unofficial mintage of five surviving specimens, the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel is – by far – the rarest circulating United States nickel.
The coin made international headlines when it sold for a jaw-dropping $4,200,000 in 2022, but that auction record is only the beginning of a numismatic mystery spanning over one-hundred years. When the Liberty Head nickel was discontinued in 1913, collectors believed that they’d never see one of the coins bearing the ‘1913’ date mark. But less than five years later, rumors of the coin began to circulate in prominent numismatist circles.
Today, the 1913 Liberty Head nickel remains one of the most sought-after coins in American numismatics – and a luxury that, unfortunately, most collectors will never own for themselves.
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About The Author
Michael Roets
Michael Roets is a writer and journalist for Hero Bullion. His work explores precious metals news, guides, and commentary.