Owner Comments:
In mid 1883 Charles Barber introduced the first of many coin designs that he would develop for the U.S. mint over his long career. The Liberty nickel was typical of much of his work which was marked by useful but utilitarian designs.
Unfortunately Barber committed one major error in his design; he omitted the “CENTS” on the reverse. Criminals, noting that the nickel and the five dollar gold piece had almost the same diameter and similar obverse designs, gold plated the new five cent pieces and attempted to pass them as gold coins. Some crooks even went so far as to give the nickels reeded edges to enhance their chances of passing the coins. One such piece is shown on the right. Part way through the year, Barber added “CENTS” to his design and fixed the problem.
The 1883 No Cents Nickel is common in AU and the lower Mint States grades because many people saved them anticipating that they would become valuable collectors’ items. As a result of that hoarding, the No Cents nickel is one of the most common and inexpensive date and variety pieces in the Liberty nickel series.
Conversely the mint issued the Proof 1883 No Cents Nickel for only part of the year. With a mintage of 5,219 pieces, the 1883 No Cent Proof Nickel is not scarce, but it is one year type. Therefore the market pieces for this issue are higher than they would have been if Proof coins of this type had been made for multiple years.