Prooflike US Type Set
5C LIBERTY HEAD, WITH CENTS (1883-1912)

Owner Comments:

Total Graded: 18550
Total Prooflike: 15
Percentage: 0.0809%

Prooflike nickels are very scarce; prooflike Liberty nickels are even scarcer. Because nickel is such a hard metal, it tended to wear dies faster than other metals. Thus, the fragile surfaces of the die necessary for prooflike coins would be degraded faster than other metals. The Liberty head nickels are divided into two subtypes: the first, minted only in 1883, is the no CENTS version. The type shown here, minted 1883 until the series ended in 1912, had the word CENTS added under the wreath on the reverse.

I was quite pleased to add this coin to my collection. It is the highest graded of 2 for the date, and while the mirrors aren’t as deep as other coins I have, it is unmistakably prooflike. The obverse mirrors are clearly stronger than the reverse. The coin has light die polish under the devices especially on the reverse. Minor striking weakness on the obverse stars is made up for by the excellent strike on the reverse. I’m guessing this is a coin which was repolished to mirror finish later in die life, rather than having been created this way. I won it at a Heritage auction for a fair price in 2010. No new PL’s have been graded in the intervening years which means this coin is a truly scarce specimen.