5 Cents "Shield Nickel Without Rays" · “Shield Nickel Without Rays”

The Shield Nickel Without Rays

In early 1867, less than a year after the new five-cent piece debuted, the U.S. Mint quietly wiped a cluster of rays off the back of the coin. The dies kept cracking and the design fought the press the whole way. The slimmed-down result ran for sixteen more years — and hides one of the rarest circulating coins the country ever made.