How Much Are Liberty Nickels Worth? Find The Value Of Your V Nickels From 1883 To 1912 Here

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Jay

Coin Values, Hobbies & Crafts

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This is a Liberty Head nickel, also called a Liberty Nickel or a V Nickel - due to the Roman numeral V on the back of the coin.

In 1883 the mint started production of the Liberty Head nickel.

It’s more commonly called the V Nickel — due to the Roman numeral V on the reverse.

Here’s what you need to know to find the value of your Liberty nickels.

What’s Special About The Liberty Nickel

The Liberty Head nickel was designed by Charles E. Barber.

During the first year of production (1883), it was produced without the word CENTS underneath the V.

Well, people started gold plating the coins and passing them off as 5 dollar gold coins!

So, later that same year, the word CENTS was added beneath the V on the reverse side of the Liberty nickel.

The Liberty Head nickel was produced from 1883 to 1913.

See a picture of the Liberty Head nickel (aka the V Nickel), as well as mintage numbers and other details.

Liberty Head Nickel Values

V Nickels from 1912 to 1897 are among the more common. They’re worth about $2 to $12 each in circulated condition, depending on the grade of the coin.

Here are some of the more uncommon dates and varieties to look for:

  • 1913 – 1,840,000 (Only 5 are known to exist!)
  • 1912 S – $140 to $460
  • 1894 – $15 to $150
  • 1888 – $26 to $110
  • 1886 – $200 to $460
  • 1885 – $475 to $900
  • 1883 with CENTS – $15 to $50
  • 1883 without CENTS $6 to $10

Some of the more common Liberty Head nickels from the early 1890s can be worth a little more than the later common coins. The earlier ones are worth around $7 to $40, depending on the grade.

An Update To The Liberty Nickel Values Listed Above…

Liberty Head nickels have gone up in value over the last few years.

For example:

  • The rare 1913 Liberty nickel sold at auction for a whopping $3.7 million!
  • The 1885 Liberty Head nickel is selling for at least $600 in the grade of Good.
  • Even more common Liberty nickels are selling for $5 and up.

The Bottom Line

So to summarize, here’s what you need to know about V Nickel values and circulation numbers…

The Liberty Head nickel series includes 2 varieties:

  • No-CENTS — lasted for only a few months during the first year of striking (1883)
  • With-CENTS —  prevailed for the rest of the series (and for good reason)

While a lower number of the 1883 no-CENTS Liberty nickels were made (5,479,519 minted), they are actually less expensive than the higher-mintage (16,032,983) 1883 with-CENTS Liberty Head nickels.

Like most coins in their first year, many of the no-CENTS Liberty nickels were saved by the public — that explains the relatively large supply of no-CENTS Liberty Head nickels in high grades.

The no-CENTS Liberty nickel can be bought for around $5 to $8 in lower grades and less than $35 in uncirculated grade.

The with-CENTS 1883 Liberty nickel starts at around $25 in low circulated grades and costs about $200 to obtain in uncirculated grade.

Most of the 1880s and 1890s dates in the Liberty Head nickel series can be purchased for less than $20 to $30 each in decent, circulated grades.

All but one of the 1900s dates can be bought for less than $7 to $10 each in the same grades.

But there are a few Liberty Head nickel dates that will trip you up if you’re on a budget. They are:

  • 1885 (1,476,490 minted) $625 to $2,750
  • 1886 (3,330,290 minted) $275 to $1,450
  • 1912-S (238,000 minted) $140 to $1,900

*These V Nickels values are for coins in Good-4 to Mint State 60.

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14 thoughts on “How Much Are Liberty Nickels Worth? Find The Value Of Your V Nickels From 1883 To 1912 Here”

  1. Hi Josh. Would you tell me the value of these V nickels please . Thank you Sir. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/abd399008234ce1701a6f69ec3e0f05650aee662b74e7a0885df4afaa67ba40d.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/26af57371b31e24b085ece9612eef5c4b70fa03b555e6ccad722f41ff2863e15.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cc97606fb8d3a1dfa6023710274bc27af9c8b5b827ea5b1a319432df557888f7.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4603d5b4e6beefc111a99a9a2876199114cdcd2cec11b5b5ac9a7fa0578a0d96.jpg

    Reply

    • Hello, David —

      These are very nice specimens, though I will reserve the grading on my end because I can’t look at the high points very well at the angles I need to so I can determine whether or not they are uncirculated or very nice About Uncirculated (AU) specimens.

      If they are AU, there approximate values are:

      •1890 Liberty Nickel AU – $100
      •1901 Liberty Nickel AU – $50

      If they are typical uncirculated specimens (say, Mint State-62), they would be worth something close to the following:

      •1890 Liberty Nickel MS-62 – $150-160
      •1901 Liberty Nickel MS-62 – $100-$110

      I hope this info helps!
      Josh

      Reply

      • Thank You Josh. When you can give info on a coin it is a help .and If it wasn’t for you and this site, help I may have thought . how much fun an enjoyment a few coins be . Now I know . So keep doing what your doing, ! Thanks again.

        Reply

        • Hello, David!

          We always appreciate your kind words! So great having you as a fan and always look forward to your questions, coin photos, and comments!

          Happy collecting,
          Josh

          Reply

  3. Hi Josh.
    I was going through my nickels and found this nickel I will be sending you photos. I don’t what to make of it? I am sorry the photos are not straight but the issues are on the sides and I wanted you to see close ups of them. These photos look like weak dye and not double die but I don’t know what to make of the letters being on top of each other? I will try to straighten them better if you need me to?

    Thank enjoy,

    Nadine

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/979b27d69cf42feb7d064074f7d2b45e6ce0430160b4c66bf5364df9ddb9fccf.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9584e2391058474e62ecfb2ccbc0c4ed51bfd59168981a73938b26c3317de906.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0abe06867d49cb36c39f8ea76d8897f0c2da20a4a5534a36424d27e7ca1f9034.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/609174c1539c13c21a31661167d59e9520e42da443b2f10e782fec8cf5f1b2b6.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/979b27d69cf42feb7d064074f7d2b45e6ce0430160b4c66bf5364df9ddb9fccf.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3815d5915f7090ea4377972f48f6d6a9b81ff16cb68af94082db22f29d64357a.jpg

    Reply

  5. Hello Josh,
    I looked at my 1990 Proof Set from San Francisco under my microscope. I found many doubled dies on both sides of five coins. I hope you do not mind if I send you many photos of all five coins. The coins are in a plastic see through case that has never been opened. The plastic makes the lights on the microscope distort so I did my best trying to keep the light off the part of the coins I wanted you to see. Thank you for always giving me your opinions. Nadine Laxen

    Reply

    • Hi, Nadine —

      I’d be happy to start by looking at a few photos, though will provide the cautionary heads up that the odds of there being multiple doubled dies in a single proof set are infinitesimally small — essentially unheard of that many coins in one set have doubled dies. What’s more, doubled dies are found on one side of a coin, not both simultaneously.

      Without seeing the set here, I’m thinking there’s a good possibility that what you view on your coins is perhaps some light mechanical doubling and/or refraction of the design images against the mirrored background due to lighting and strike flow.

      If you’d like to send 3-5 images to start I’ll look and see what’s going on… There may be a doubled die there!

      Best wishes,
      Josh

      Reply

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