Liberty Head (V) Nickels – Can You Dig It?
Published by Larry on Tagged Coin Collecting Basics, Give-A-Ways, Promotional
In January of 1970 I dug my first V Nickel, a very nice 1902. I had only been metal detecting for about three weeks and was using my $50.00 Medeford BFO detector that my wife gave me for a Christmas gift. Linda did not realize the impact that gift was going to have on my life and finding that V nickel was a key to my becoming hooked on this treasure finding hobby.
Joe Denmark, who grew up in the Tarpon Springs, FL area, had told me about attending a one-room school in Palm Harbor, that was now an orange grove. That Saturday morning in January, I went to the grove and got permission from the owner to hunt a section of the grove that Joe said the school was located. Within twenty minutes I located the 1902 V Nickel and ten minutes later got a 1905. These were the only two coins I found that morning, but I was wowed by the experience. In forty years of metal detecting, I have dug up nearly every date of the collection except for rare 1885, and 1912 S. This nickel variety has an interesting story and I want to make it the monthly dug coin give-away for October, 2008.
The Liberty Head (V) Nickels were officially minted from 1883 to 1912. However, a mint official illegally produced an unknown quantity with the date of 1913. There are five known examples and one sold in June, 2005 for $4.15 million, the second highest price ever paid for a single US coin.
The original 1883 issue lacked the word “cents” on the reverse. Since the nickels were the same size as the $5.00 gold pieces, some counterfeiters plated them with gold and attempted to pass them off as such. Legend says that a deaf mute named Josh Tatum was the creator of this fraud, and he could not be convicted because he simply gave the coins in payment for items selling less than five cents, but did not protest if he was given change appropriate to a five-dollar coin. Sometimes the 1883 nickel is referred to as the “Racketeer Nickel”, and Josh Tatum is sometimes cited as the source of the saying, “Your not Joshin’ me, are you?”
The Racketeering Nickel
V nickels were minted only at Philadelphia until 1912, when Denver and San Francisco each minted small quantities. The 1912 S is the second toughest key to the series. The D or S mint mark is located on the reverse, just below the left-hand dot near the seven-o’-clock position on the rim and I ain’t “Joshin you.” With less than 35 regular issue coins, this is still a set that the metal detecting hobbyist can come close to completing.
This 1912 D will be the coin given away in October’s drawing on the 15th. Remember to leave a comment on any post to qualify for the give-away. Here’s to “diggin it”! Larry
September 17th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Thanks for this great program Larry. I cant wait to recieve my Large Cent from the last drawing.
September 17th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
V nickel is one of my favorites too. Tough to find in good condition though. They seem to corrode quick.
September 17th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Matt,
I shipped it about an hour ago. Good to have you on board.
Larry
September 17th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Robert,
I have dug many in FL sand that looked real good. Both of those found and pictured on the Fisher F2 Review were found in tough ground and the coins look pretty rough. The 1904 has a full Liberty but is typical of the darkened color that older nickels pick up from the ground. My best finds of V Nicks were an 1886 in a tobacco tin cache of 13 coins and a beautiful 1890 EF that I dug up in great soil.
September 20th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
A “V” nickel in high grade was a tough find in circulation 75 years ago, so good luck putting a nice collection together out of the ground.
September 20th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
So,what is the best soil to find these or any copper/nickel alloy coins?
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:46 pm
You are correct! I have found more than a thousand and only ten percent are worth putting into an album. I have many in very fine condition as far as detail goes but either darkness or surface pitting destroys numismatic value. My best including my 1884 and 1886 were found in a tobacco tin with a 1909 S VDB. I will soon put a picture of that collection that I have dug up on this site. Many are in good to very good and I have professionally cleaned a number of them.
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Cburton,
In Florida, a sandy loam based soil like much of Tampa Bay area has given me many decent coins. I have an 1840 Large Cent that is a little dark but otherwise no damage and in extra fine condition. I also find many excellent condition Wheat and Indian Cents. I have been selling about 250 Indian Cents on ebay that look as good as any average circulated pennies found 50 to 75 years ago. I also dig up some pretty rough looking coins too.
October 1st, 2008 at 2:00 am
Larry,
It is great hearing about the found coins. I will be retiring from the Air Force and moving to Florida in January and cant wait to start detecting. Thank you for the nice stories.
Bruce
October 1st, 2008 at 4:33 am
Bruce,
Thanks for your service to our nation and congratulations on upcoming retirement. Winter is my favorite detecting time here for land and also super for water too.
Larry
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:17 am
Thanks for the info Larry.
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:23 am
You are very welcome. Thanks for stopping by.
October 8th, 2008 at 3:28 am
Larry,
Thanks for the invite. Regarding “nickel” coins, I seem to have a problem. My machine and I can’t seem to hear nicke coin— out of 2700 coins this year, only 48 were nickel, compared to over 400 quarters, 600 dimes, 900 coppers and 800 zinkers. Any ideas? The nickel also seems to mask other coins. By the way, you lucky guys get to detect every day, while we frozen north guys get about 5 months each year.
October 8th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Don,
What instrument(s) are you using? To really get the nickels, particurally the old ones, means turning discrimination way down or off. I do so much better nickel hunting with the analog detectors than with the new technology. I frequently also use notching, but will hunt the area with higher discrimination first then will notch out all targets except for nickel items. I have found several small gold rings doing this as the little guys are so close to nickel that with even the latest imaging technology they will signal as nickel every time. I took a Garrett 1980 era VLF/TR analog unit, turned the discrimination down and found nearly a roll of buffalo and V’s on a lot where a 1917 school was torn down and junk was every where. I used reverse discrimination in a big way that day. Tesoro units are the best in my book for nickel finds at the mid to upper end of disrimination. I find a lot of nickels while discriminating out many types of pull tabs with my older Tesoro Sabre.
November 15th, 2008 at 3:13 am
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