1882 Proof Nickel Pattern - J-1686

Coin Details

Auction Record

$10,925 PR65 01-01-2003 Bowers & Merena

Description

Twelfth variety in the 1882 Liberty Head Nickel pattern series, representing the approximate midpoint of the twenty-three nickel patterns produced that year. This may be one of the patterns in which Barber experimented with moving UNITED STATES OF AMERICA from the obverse to the reverse — a change that Treasury Secretary Folger would later demand based on his interpretation of coinage laws. The legal requirement that the national legend appear on the reverse of the coin, combined with the existing placement of the denomination on the reverse, created a crowded reverse composition that required careful design work to resolve. Barber's solution on the final adopted coin — placing UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and E PLURIBUS UNUM on the obverse, with the V and wreath dominating the reverse — ultimately reflected a compromise between legal requirements and design preferences. Struck in copper-nickel, this pattern may document one of the intermediate arrangements.

Rarity Notes

R-6 to R-7 (Very Rare to Extremely Rare). Estimated 8-12 specimens known.

Cross References

Judd J-1686, Pollock P-1888