Yet another antique store purchase ($30). Wasn’t actively looking for anything from the shield nickel series, but this one looked nice so I scooped it up and made it my first. I’ll say it’s solidly VF and maybe just maybe an XF on a good day…but probably not. The IGWT looks weakly struck, and that little spot of verdigris I’ll spot treat with verdicare. I have a nice 20th century set and this nickel puts me one coin closer to filling the 19th century holes, which is happening very slowly.
Congratulations on the pickup. Looks to be a solid VF to me. 1869 is considered a common date but there really aren’t many Shield Nickels around. If you paid $30 that is just under the going retail price for this date. The Shield Nickels are prone to die cracks but I don’t see any on your coin. This is a nice looking piece and will fill that hole in your Type Set nicely.
Yep... Shield nickels are way cool. And for some reason the uncirculated pieces tend to tone in rainbow hues that I tend to think is sexy.
Here’s one of my few Shield Nickels. It had a typical die crack from the I at IN to the U in TRUST. I can’t get it to show in the photos but it runs along the top of the design with the leaves.
A nice counterstamp...well centered and evenly struck. Nearly all "Oil of Ice" stamps are. I like the nickel too. Bruce
Thank you. I have two of the three coins that were counter marked. Still looking for the the third type.
As a piece of advice, the green spot to the left of the “T” in “TRUST” on the obverse is a corrosion spot. That defect will prevent the coin from getting a straight grade. The surfaces should be smooth. Grading involves more than the sharpness of the design devices.
Nice pickup. I love the shield nickels just for all the varieties that are available. I recommend if anyone learns anything on the series - learn to recognize some of the major varieties like the 1883/2. Also learn the difference between an 1882 filled 2 versus the 83/2. I still see auctions with these and even the last show I went to a dealer had one listed as 83/2 - needless to say once I saw that I mentioned it and was told I did not know what I was talking about - I just walked away. You can still cherry pick some of these for profit. Now my most fun shield nickels to find are the missing leaf (considered a minor variety), but I still search for them. Here are a few of them - I think I actually have 6 to 8 of them. Then the DDO are also pretty much fun to find - all of the ones I have left are low grade, but I like seeing the double annulet and leaves. Oops - forgot to mention https://www.shieldnickels.net/ another favorite site of mine.
Oil Of Ice was a form of medicine similar to Icy Hot or Ben Gay. They were counter stamped into Cents, Two Cent pieces and Shield Nickels. I need the two cent piece.
