1883 Liberty Nickel

The 1883 NC variety was discontinued part way through the year for the WC variety due to the potential for malfeasance with a coin that did not list a denomination. Because of the supposed controversy surrounding the coin, the NC variety was heavily hoarded while the 1883 WC variety floated around in commerce and had a fairly high attrition rate like most of the other 19th century V nickels. Because of that hoarding, the NC variety is cheap and plentiful.

The general population always saved the unusual coins, hence the no cents because they were different were saved. The 1883 with cents was just like the rest of the issue so not many were saved ...

Actually the history behind the "No cents" Liberty nickel is intriguing. Known as the "Racketeer" nickel, it was in fact an error by the US Mint. Without the word cents on this coin it was magically transformed from 5 cents to 5 dollars with a layered of gold. The US Mint soon realized this blunder and stopped production of the "no cents" and began the production with cents. This certainly has a factor on the current availability of the "no cent" type 1883 V nickel. Just how much of a factor is anyone's guess. My recommendation is to get some! By the way, this is a huge factor in the reason why there is a large amount of these both these type coins in higher grades. The interest factor caused many to hold them out of circulation. As is our modern type Statehood Quarters, high interest is a common denominator in higher populations of superior grades. http://www.coinzine.net/2010/09/uni...erty-nickel/

Scooby Due you didn't know the "Racketeering" story or where you just ribbing me?

LOL! No, I didn't read the link. I just knew that "joshing" was associated with the coin.

OH, NO. MY 1883 Solid Gold coins are not real Gold?

Time to learn something else. The link says the government tried to destroy the 83 no cent coins, They did not.

It says they tried to prosecute the people who gold plated and passed the coins, they did not.

The entire Story of Josh Tatum is a fiction. No evidence of any arrest or trial for such a person has ever been found. The Tatum story is just a numismatic myth.

And the term just joshing or to josh someone dates back to the 1830's some fifty years before the introduction of the nickel. In fact it was probably the term Josh that suggested the name of the perpetrator when the story was created.