The 1913 Liberty Head Nickel is one of the most valuable coins in the world. Only 5 specimens are confirmed to exist, although there is an intriguing hint that there might be a sixth. The finest-known 1913 Liberty Nickel is valued at a minimum of $5 million, the price for which it sold in May of 2007. The Liberty Head Nickel's Controversial Beginnings

The Liberty Head Nickel, designed by Charles E. Barber, was minted from 1883 to 1913. Like nickels still being minted today, the coin actually has more copper in it than nickel, being comprised of 75% copper and only 25% nickel. The Liberty Head Nickel type, also called a V Nickel because of the large V on its reverse, was a well-publicized coin from the very beginning.

Officials at the Mint failed to place the word CENTS on the coin, and it wasn't long before enterprising scammers began plating the nickels in gold and passing them off as $5 gold pieces! This was possible because the Liberty Head Nickel was a brand new type, and people weren't familiar with it yet, plus it was about the same diameter as the $5 gold piece. Without the word CENTS on the coin, all the scammer had to do was buy a small item priced below 5 cents, pay with a gold-plated nickel, and wait to see whether he got change for 5 cents or $5. In one well-publicized court trial, a jury was unable to convict the alleged scammer because nobody could testify that he had ever said that the coins were worth $5. Perhaps the only reason he never said it was that he was a deaf-mute! An Early Media Darling - The Liberty Head Nickel

Rumors began to fly, fueled by the press and by coin dealers with specimens to sell, that the new Liberty Head Nickel was about to be recalled by the Mint because of the serious "error" of omitting the denomination. People began hoarding them, and today, 1883 "no cents" specimens can readily be found in high grades as a result. The Mint changed the design of the Liberty Nickel to add the word CENTS about halfway through the mintage run. Thus it was that the Liberty Head Nickel became a favorite of the coin dealers and the media from its very inception