An excellent candidate for a REAL 1883 no cents racketeer nickel

[BillJones]

 

Many collectors know the story of the 1883 No Cents nickel. When the Liberty nickel made its first appearance, the word “CENTS” did not appear on the coin. The only indication of value was a large Roman numeral “V” on the reverse. Soon gold plated examples of the coin cropped up as some less than honest individuals tried to pass the coins as five dollar gold pieces. For those who are not familiar with the $5 gold coin it has virtually the same diameter as the nickel, and back then had a similar liberty head design on the obverse.

 

This resulted in an early change in design, which prompted many people to hoard the No Cents nickels with the belief that they would some day become valuable collectors’ items. Those hoarding activities resulted in the direct opposite situation. So many of the coins were hoarded that today the 1883 No Cents nickel is common in EF condition although the mintage, at 5.5 million, is on the low side for the series.

 

Today gold plated 1883 No Cents nickels are often available for sale as “racketeer nickels.” The vast majority of these coins are fakes that were gold plated well after the time when people were attempting to commit the fraud. And since there is no way to positively state when the coin was plated, the No Cents nickel fiasco makes for an interesting story that can rarely be illustrated by a genuine example of the “racketeer nickel.”

 

Here is one piece that might be the real thing. It is a gold plated 1883 No Cents nickel that has some very nicely executed reeding added to the edge. The addition of the reeding was necessary to enhance the fraud because most citizens were aware that all U.S. gold coins had a reeding on the edge. I bought this piece years in go in a lot of three coins. One was the conventional smooth edge gold plated nickel. The other had very crudely executed reeding and was not gold plated. Over the past few years I’ve seen these gold plated pieces with the reeded edge offered for as much as $50.

 

[James_OldeTowne]

I actively pursued these for years, seeking out gold-plated coins with applied reeds. I thought that looking for a coin with obvious where such that the gold starting wearing off would be a good sign of a genuine coin. I probably have about five of these put away.

 

Very nice!

[Dcoin]

I actively pursued these for years, seeking out gold-plated coins with applied reeds. I thought that looking for a coin with obvious where such that the gold starting wearing off would be a good sign of a genuine coin. I probably have about five of these put away.

 

Very nice!

 

I just saw a nickel with similar characteristics at a local show. The cheeks and hairline clearly had the gold rubbed off to show the silver color below.

 

Agreed a very interesting piece.

 

[MikeInFL]

COOL! Thanks for sharing, Bill.

 

If you don't mind my asking, where did you pick this up from? Is it something you've had for a while?

[BillJones]

COOL! Thanks for sharing, Bill.

 

If you don't mind my asking, where did you pick this up from? Is it something you've had for a while?

 

I bought it off a bid wall that used to run in Boston at a place called the Worthy Coin Store. I bought the lot of three No Cents nickels for $14.50, and the other bidders laughed at me for my purchased. Oh well, the piece with the nicely reeded edge caught my attention.

 

People usually think of a bidwall as a place for low grade collector "junk." That was not the case with this bid wall. Among the many coins I purchased from there were a 1793 Chain cent (S-4) now in a NGC VF-30 holder, 1797 13 star star half dime (rare variety) in VF-30, 1796 dime in AU-50 and a 1796 quarter in VF-25. Among the coins that can down off that wall that I could not afford was what is now one of the finest known 1804 dimes. I was the under bidder and sadly I just could not raise any more cash. It would have gone well with my 1804 quarter eagle, which was minted for the same reverse die.

 

The ower of the shop, Corado Romano, was a legendary Boston coin dealer who bought up a lot of stuff in 1930s and '40s. These coins were "inventory.' He held on to the better stuff. His pride and joy was a 1792 silver center cent. His son Don ran the shop until Corado died. The remaining coins were sold by Stacks'. That lot of pieces grossed just under $2 million before such numbers were common place for coin auctions.