United States: copper-nickel Shield nickel, "with rays" type, 1866/1866 repunched date (FS-304)

Numista-14852.

A decent lower grade example of the first-year type with rays on the reverse. This was America's first non-silver 5-cent piece, referred to as a "nickel", though technically "nickels" are 75% copper and only 25% nickel.

My friend Patrick Jenkins says, "Your 1866 Shield nickel is an FS-05-1866-304 (001.3) ... Shields have some great varieties, this definitely worth more being 1st reverse with Rays and the repunched date. $125 +/-".

The FS-304 variety attribution refers to its number in the Fivaz-Stanton Cherrypicker's Guide, and would indicate that this is an 1866/1866 repunched date variety. I am not an examiner of die variety minutiae myself, but that's rather interesting.

 

Neither do I, but Patrick did, despite the limitations of my photography. Of course I wasn’t looking. I leave the tiny die variety stuff to others, as mentioned. It’s not my cuppa tea, personally- I’m a basic Type guy - but it certainly is interesting when one of your variety specialist friends spots something on a coin you own and tells you that it’s worth more than twice what you paid.

Thanks. Here I’m just the proverbial blind pig rooting for acorns, it seems. I wouldn’t have known this was a good cherrypick if Patrick hadn’t clued me in after the fact.

 

I do not see the die crack under the 1 as shown in the first photo you posted (the AU58). It does have a rather squishy 8 and second 6 like in the second picture you posted (the AU55), however.

Nor do I see the ghost of the low 6 that is visible in those photos, but then again, mine is a much lower grade example, so...?

After second look with 7x loupe: nope. Don't see any ghost 6 anywhere.

 

Funny, I never thought of the rays on the 1866-67 nickels as resembling fireworks, but I guess they kinda do.

So that makes at least three of us. Guess we’ll leave that up to the variety specialist folks with their microscopic vision.