The History Behind The Nickel Coin

The coin that is worth 5 cents in the United States is called a nickel coin. It was first designed in 1938 with a picture of President Thomas Jefferson on the back of it. From 1938 through 2003 Monticello’s picture was on the coin. Then in 2004 and 2005 there were various pictures on the back of the nickel coin commemorating the bicentennials of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition. These new designs were called the Westward Journey series. In 2006, Monticello’s picture was on the back of the coin again and Jefferson was on the front of the coin.

General History Surrounding The Nickel Coin

before the nickel coin was introduced, there were really small five-cent pieces that were called half dimes. However, there was soon a shortage of silver both during and after the American Civil War. As such, it was important to find a new type of metal to use to create the five-cent coins. This is when copper began to be used and it is still used to make the nickel coin today. Unfortunately, there were a lot of problems during the 20th century because of how hard nickel is. Today’s modern minting equipment does not have any problem with making a nickel coin though.

Until the early 1950s the nickel coin was able to be used to place a local phone call from a public phone booth in the United States. Many rural places in the United States still charged a nickel until the mid-1970s. It is also interesting to note that it only cost a nickel to ride on a public transit vehicle, such as a bus or a subway car, for the longest time. With this in mind, you will be able to see that a nickel would get you a lot of great things when it was first invented.

The Worth Of A Nickel Coin

The term nickel was applied to this coin before they were ever made out of nickel. In fact, the term “nickel” was originally applied to the Indian Head coin that existed from 1859 through 1864. These coins then came to be known as nickels during the Civil War. Finally, in 1866, the Shield nickel hit originated and was very popular. This nickel coin forever changed the way that Americans associated coins that are made from nickel and were worth a specific denomination. Now you know how we have come to have the coin that we call a nickel today.