The plating of the nickels caused

The plating of the nickels caused consternation at the Mint, and brought production of Liberty Head nickels to a sudden stop. Barber was told to modify his design, which he did, moving other design elements to accommodate the word "cents" at the bottom of the reverse design. Sony VAIO PCG-8Z3M Battery The revised nickel was issued on June 26, 1883, the date on which production of the Shield nickel was finally stopped. The public responded by hoarding the "centless" nickels,^[13] egged on by reports that the Treasury Department intended to recall those nickels, and that they would become rare. Sony VAIO PCG-7112M Battery After heavy mintages of the nickel in 1883 and 1884, production was much lower in 1885 and 1886. This was due to an economic downturn which lowered demand for the coins. The 1886 production was also depressed by the Treasury's decision to reissue large numbers of worn minor coins. Sony VGP-BPL15/B Battery It was not until September 1886 that the Mint resumed full production of the coin.^[15] By 1887, however, the Mint was overwhelmed by orders, melting down large quantities of older copper-nickel coins to meet the demand. Despite these efforts, the Mint was forced to return many orders unfilled.^[16] Sony VGP-BPS15/B Battery Demand remained strong until 1894, when the Mint temporarily suspended production as it had accumulated a surplus during the Panic of 1893.^[17] The Coinage Act of 1890 retired a number of obsolete denominations, including the three-cent piece. Another Act of Congress, also enacted on September 26, Sony VGP-BPL15/S Battery 1890 required that coinage designs not be changed until they had been in use 25 years, unless Congress authorized the change.^[18] However, the second act indicated that nothing in the law was to prevent the redesign of the current five-cent piece and silver dollar "as soon as practicable after the passage of this act".^[19] Sony VGP-BPS15/S Battery In 1896, pattern nickels were struck for the first time since 1885, when experimental, holed coins had been tested. The 1896 pieces, which featured a simple shield with arrows crossed behind it, were struck in response to a resolution of the House of Representatives asking the Secretary of the Treasury to report to it on the advantages and disadvantages of using various alloys in coinage.^[20] Pattern nickels would not be struck again until 1909. Sony VGP-BPS15 Battery The turn of the century saw unprecedented demand for nickels, due to a booming economy and the use of nickels in coin-operated machines. In 1900, Mint Director George E. Roberts called on Congress to grant the Mint a larger appropriation to purchase base metals, allowing for greater production of nickels and cents.^[22] Sony VGP-BPL15 Battery The same year, the design was modified slightly, lengthening some of the leaves on the reverse. This change occurred with the introduction of a new hub, from which coining dies were made.^[23] Demand for the coins remained heavy; in March 1911, Mehl's Numismatic Monthly reported that the Mint was working twenty-four hours a day to produce cents and nickels, and even so was failing to satisfy demand.^[24] Sony VGN-P series Battery Mint directors, in their annual reports, had long called for the authority to strike cents and nickels at all mints; by law they could then only be struck at Philadelphia. On April 24, 1906, this restriction was removed, although the first base metal coins, cents in both cases, were not struck at San Francisco until 1908 and Denver until 1911. Sony VGN-P11Z/Q Battery In 1912, nickels were coined for the first time at each of the two branch mints.^[25] The 1912-S (for San Francisco) nickel was not struck until Christmas Eve, and was only struck for four business days. A 1912-S nickel, one of the first forty coined, was used by former San Francisco Mayor James D. Sony VGN-P11Z/R Battery Phelan to pay the first fare on the city's first streetcar on December 28, 1912.^[26] Excluding the 1913 nickel, the 1912-S, with only 238,000 struck, is by far the rarest in the series. In 1909, consideration was given to the replacement of the Liberty Head nickel by a new design. Sony VGN-P11Z/W Battery In an attempt to modernize the coinage, the cent and the gold pieces had been redesigned. Prominent artists from outside the Mint had been contracted to provide the designs of the new coins, much to Barber's disgruntlement. Mint Director Frank A. Leach was an admirer of Barber's work, and had him prepare designs to be struck as patterns. Sony VGN-P21S/W Battery Barber, at Leach's request, prepared a design showingWashington's head, and newspapers reported that new coins might be issued by the end of 1909. In July 1909, however, Leach resigned, putting an end to the matter for the time being. On May 4, 1911, Eames MacVeagh, son of Treasury Secretary Franklin MacVeagh wrote to his father: Sony VGN-P21Z/G Battery A little matter that seems to have been overlooked by all of you is the opportunity to beautify the design of the nickel or five cent piece during your administration, and it seems to me that it would be a permanent souvenir of a most attractive sort. As possibly you are aware, it is the only coin the design of which you can change during your administration,Sony PCG-31211T Battery as I believe there is a law to the effect that the designs must not be changed oftener than every twenty-five years. I should think also it might be the coin of which the greatest numbers are in circulation. Soon afterwards, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Abram Andrew announced that the Mint would be soliciting new designs. Sony PCG-31311T Battery Well-known sculptor James Earle Fraser approached Treasury officials, who were impressed by his proposals. Mint Director Roberts initially asked Fraser for a design featuring a bust of Lincoln, which he produced, mainly to please Roberts, but Fraser also developed a design featuring a Native American on the obverse, with an American bison on the reverse. Sony PCG-51111T Battery This design was given preliminary approval by MacVeagh on January 13, 1912, and would come to be known as the Buffalo nickel.^[30] In late June, Fraser completed the model of the final design. The specifications of the new nickel were provided to the Hobbs Manufacturing Company, a maker of vending machines, Sony PCG-81111T Battery which, following a meeting with Fraser in early November, opined that the new coins would likely jam its machines. At the company's request, Fraser prepared a revised version, but Secretary MacVeagh rejected it on the grounds that the changes compromised the design,^[31] which he greatly admired.^[32] Sony PCG-81311T Battery On December 13, 1912, Roberts warned the Mint staff to take no action in preparation for the 1913 five-cent coinage until the new designs were ready. He ended production of the Liberty Head nickel at the Philadelphia Mint the same day.^[33] A minor change was made to the Buffalo design in an attempt to satisfy the Hobbs Company, Sony VPCF138FC Battery which promptly provided a lengthy list of changes it wanted made to the coin. On February 15, 1913, with less than three weeks until he would have to leave office on the advent of the Wilson administration, McVeagh wrote to Roberts, noting that no other vending or slot machine maker had complained about the new design. Sony VPCF219FC Battery The Secretary concluded that everything possible had been done to satisfy the Hobbs Company, and ordered the new nickel put into production. The first information that a 1913 Liberty head nickel might have been struck came in December 1919, when coin dealer Samuel W. Brown placed advertisements in numismatic publications, offering to buy any such nickels. Sony VPCS135EC Battery In August 1920, Brown displayed one such coin at the annual American Numismatic Association (ANA) convention.^[34] Brown related that a master die had been prepared for the 1913 Liberty head nickels, and a few pieces had been run off to test the die.^[35] As it turned out, Brown possessed five coins, which he eventually sold. Sony VPCS136EC Battery After spending fifteen years in the hands of the eccentric Col. E.H.R. Green, the famous Fort Worth, Texas, area collector, the coins were finally dispersed in 1943. Since then, the coins have had several owners each. Today, two are on public display—at theSmithsonian Institution in Washington and the ANA's Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Sony VPCS138EC Battery while three are owned privately. The most recent sale of a 1913 Liberty Head nickel was in January 2010, when one sold for $3,737,500 in an auction.^[36] It is uncertain how the 1913 nickels came to be made. The Mint's records show no production of 1913 Liberty head nickels, and none were authorized to be made.^[37] Sony VPCS139GC Battery Dies were prepared in advance and sent to California for a 1913-S Liberty Head nickel coinage, but upon Roberts's instruction to stop coinage, they were ordered returned to Philadelphia. They were received by December 23, and were almost certainly destroyed routinely by early January.^[38] Sony VPCYA15EC Battery Brown had been an employee at the Philadelphia Mint (although this was not known until 1963) and many theories focus suspicion on him. Sony VPCYA16EC Battery,Sony VPCYA25EC Battery,Sony VPCYA26EC Battery