Top 20 Shield Nickel Varieties

The shield nickel series contains many strange and wonderful varieties. But among the weirdness, certain of the varieties still stand out for their individual eccentricities. I initially wanted to do a Top 10 list, but due to the breadth of shield nickel variety material found it impossible to whittle the choices down to 10!

These are my own personal choices, but I will tell you why I think each variety belongs in the Top 20 list. Some of the factors that I considered in building this list include:

If you manage to put together a collection containing all of the Top 20 varieties (and maybe the runners up too!) you certainly will have an excellent spectrum of shield nickel varieties. But in contrast to the Top lists of other series, I think the Top 20 Shield Nickels are going to be much more difficult even though there are only twenty coins here. So, let's have a bit of a challenge here - read this page for your chance at Shield Nickel numismatic immortality.

The Top 20 Shield Nickel Varieties are listed (for the most part) in date order, with no implied ranking.

 

The Top 20 Shield Nickel Varieties

(click on thumbnail to go to a detailed page about the variety)

  Year SNV # Fletcher # *CPG # Claim to Fame  
             
1
 1866 S1-3001 F-10

FS-302

(FS-001.1)

 The most dramatic repunched date 1866 S1-3001
2
 1867WR S1-3001 F-08

FS-301

(FS-002.1)

 The widest spread triple punched date (Latest research shows this to be a SmDt/LgDt!) 1867 S1-3001
3
 1867NR       A typical missing leaf variety Missing Leaf
4
 1868
S2-4000
 F-102

FS-312

(FS-003.1)

 The best misplaced date 1868 S2-4000
5
 1869 S1-0000 F-01

FS-301

(FS-005)

 The best logotype variety 1869 Narrow Date
6
 1870 S1-8001 F-15

FS-301

(FS-005.77)

 The strangest die clash 1870 S1-8001
7
 1870 S1-7002  

FS-103

(FS-005.75)

 The best combination variety (wide spread doubled die obverse and wide spread repunched date) 1870 S1-7002
8
 1870 S1-2002 F-14

FS-801

(FS-005.9)

 The best doubled die reverse 1870 S1-2002
9
 1872 S2-1015.2 F-06 FS-107 The best variety on a proof coin 1872 S2-1015.2
10
 1872 S2-3000 F-102

FS-308

(FS-007.8)

 The only small date over large date logotype variety 1872 S2-3000
11
 1872 S2-7003   FS-108 The wildest variety coin in the entire shield nickel series 1872 S2-7003
12
 1873CL3 S1-1001 F-06

FS-103

(FS-008.8)

 The widest doubled die obverse spread 1873 S1-1001
13
 1873OP3 S2-3000 F-106

FS-1301

(FS-009)

 The only large date over small date logotype variety 1873 S2-3000
14
 1874 S1-1002 F-08

FS-103

(FS-010.5)

 The best unusual east/west aligned monster doubled die obverse 1874 S1-1002
15
 1874 S1-1003 F-12

FS-102

(FS-010.4)

 The widest doubled die obverse separation at the motto 1874 S1-1003
16
 1876 S1-1000 F-04

FS-101

(FS-012)

 The best tripled die obverse 1876 S1-1000
17
 1876 S1-7000 F-08 FS-103 The most extreme polishing lines (comes with a doubled die and repunched date too!) 1876 S1-7000
18
 1876 S1-8000 F-09   "The Bleeder" - a unique variety. 1876 S1-8000
19
 1883 S1-5001 F-08

FS-301

(FS-013)

 The best overdate 1883 S1-5001
20
 1867 S2-9000 F#1   False die counterfeit counterfeit

 

Some More Juicy Shield Nickel Varieties

These didn't quite make best-of-class or runner up, but they deserve recognition!
Click on an entry in the left column to go to the variety page.

Strong Twofers Doubled die and repunched date, at least one strong
DDO Monsters Very wide spaced doubled dies
1868 reverse of '68 The broken letter hub varieties of 1868

 

* CPG attributions are going through a complete renumbering. The primary number presented in the table is the new number, with the old equivalent in parentheses. The new numbers are abbreviated to fit in the table better; the official numbers include the denomination and year. For example #1 in the table above is listed as FS-302, which should be understood to be FS-05-1866-302.

 

Changes last made on: Thursday April 4, 2024 23:53

This page copyright (C) 2004 by Howard Spindel. All rights reserved.