1912 5C MS64 Certification #03083962, PCGS #3873

Ron Guth

The 1912 Liberty Nickel

While the general public was likely unaware that 1912 would be the final year of regular production for Charles Barber’s Liberty Nickel design, the Philadelphia Mint struck the coin in sufficient quantities to ensure that plenty were available to be saved by collectors following the introduction of James Earle Fraser’s Buffalo design in 1913. As it stands, 1912 Liberty Nickels (#3873) survive in all grades from cull to Mint State, with the finest examples falling just short of or barely reaching the Superb Gem grade of PCGS MS67. They are also much more affordable than the 1912-D (#3874) and 1912-S (#3875), the only branch-mint issues in the series.

Collecting the 1912 Liberty Nickel

The Liberty Nickel series is exactly the type of run that seems to be made with the PCGS Set Registry in mind. Its 30-year span falls into a "Goldilocks zone" — neither too short nor too long. Its opening issue, the 1883 "No Cents" (#3841), has earned lasting notoriety, and the famous (some might say infamous) 1913 Liberty Nickel (#3912) is a multi-million-dollar rarity that makes headlines whenever it comes to market. While that coin isn't necessary for a basic business-strike or date set, its fame gives the series a public cachet that some lesser-known U.S. coin series lack. Finishing the set is entirely doable, even for a collector of average means; the series’ two tough dates, the 1885 (#3846) and 1886 (#3847), are stretch coins, not outright show-stoppers.

Another aspect that drives collector enthusiasm for the series is its place as a historical bridge between the 19th and 20th centuries. The first issues were released in the same year that Charles "Black Bart" Bolton committed his last successful stagecoach heist and William "Buffalo Bill" Cody debuted his massive outdoor traveling "Wild West" show. It was the close of an era where the boundary lines of the American Frontier could no longer be drawn. By 1912, motion picture screenings were spreading across the country, Arizona and New Mexico were admitted into the Union, Fenway Park opened in Boston—with 25-year-old right hander Buck O'Brien facing down Ray Caldwell and the New York Highlanders—and the RMS Titanic sank roughly 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland. The span of history that unfolded while this series circulated was both far-reaching and profoundly significant.

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