1885 Liberty Head Nickel

Specifications

Denomination: 5c
Series: Liberty nickel (1883-1912)
Designer: Charles E. Barber
Years of issue: 1885
Composition: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel
Weight: 5 g
Diameter: 21.2 mm
Edge: Plain
KM: KM#112
Mintage: 1473300
Key mintages: 1,473,300 business strikes (PCGS CoinFacts). Separate 3,790 proofs struck for collectors — not part of circulation mintage (Heritage Auctions). Hint figure 1,473,300 verified.

Melt value: $0.05copper $0.44/ozt · prices as of Sep 16, 2026

AI-generated illustration — not a photograph of a genuine coin.

1,473,300 struck — the second-lowest regular mintage of the Liberty nickel series.

History

The 1885 Liberty Head nickel shows Charles E. Barber’s Liberty wearing a coronet and wreath facing left, with thirteen stars and the date; the reverse carries a Roman numeral V within a wreath, with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, E PLURIBUS UNUM and CENTS (Wikipedia; accessed 2026-09-16)
Struck at Philadelphia with 1,473,300 business strikes — the second-lowest regular mintage of the Liberty nickel series (PCGS CoinFacts; accessed 2026-09-16)
Low output followed the heavy 1883–84 mintages; an economic downturn cut demand for new nickels in 1885–86 (Wikipedia; accessed 2026-09-16)
A separate 3,790 proofs were struck for collectors; do not add proofs to the circulation mintage or confuse them with the scarcer Mint State business strikes (Heritage Auctions; accessed 2026-09-16)
One of the three key issues of the Liberty nickel series, with the 1886 and 1912-S; genuinely scarce in all grades and especially challenging in Mint State (Heritage Auctions; accessed 2026-09-16)

Circulation-strike mintage 1,473,300 — second-lowest regular mintage of the series (PCGS CoinFacts; accessed 2026-09-16)
Key date; genuinely scarce in all grades and especially challenging in Mint State (Heritage Auctions; accessed 2026-09-16)
PCGS estimates about 5,000 survivors in all grades (PCGS CoinFacts; accessed 2026-09-16)

Certified populations: PCGS survival estimate: ~5,000 all grades (PCGS CoinFacts)

Verify no mintmark, the correct 5 g / 21.2 mm / plain-edge format, and an unaltered date; compare against certified examples, since key dates invite alteration (Heritage Auctions; Numismatic News; accessed 2026-09-16)
Do not confuse business strikes with the 3,790 proofs — proofs are a separate issue (Heritage Auctions; accessed 2026-09-16)