1913 Liberty Head "V" Nickel
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 5 made
- Mintage
- 5 (includes proofs)
- Metal
- 75% copper, 25% nickel
- Weight
- 5 g
- Diameter
- 21.2 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1913 Liberty Head "V" Nickel worth?
Few coins in the series are harder to find. Even a worn 1913 sells well above face value. The flip side is that counterfeits and altered dates are common, so authentication matters.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1913 Liberty Head "V" Nickel rare?
- Yes. Only 5 were made, the lowest of any regular Liberty Head "V" Nickel.
- Is the 1913 Liberty Head "V" Nickel silver?
- No. It's 75% copper, 25% nickel. The only silver nickels are the 1942 to 1945 wartime coins with a large mint mark above Monticello.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1913 Liberty Head "V" Nickel?
- On the reverse, to the left of CENTS. Only 1912-D and 1912-S have mint marks. No mint mark means Philadelphia.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1913 are scarcer?
- None. Within five years either side, no Philadelphia issue had a smaller mintage than the 1913.
- How many 1913 Liberty Head "V" Nickel coins were made?
- 5.
What to check on your 1913
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Check the date and mint mark under magnification for tooling or added letters. Scarce dates are the ones forgers alter.
- Judge the grade under good light. Look at LIBERTY on the coronet, the hair curls and the corn ears in the wreath. Full LIBERTY is a key threshold for Fine and better.
Low-mintage dates attract altered and counterfeit coins. Check that the date have not been tooled or added, or buy one already certified by PCGS or NGC.
The story of the 1913
Production at Philadelphia fell off a cliff in 1913. Only 5 were made, against 26 million the year before. That drop is why the 1913 is the one people look for. It was also the last year of the series.
No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1913 you find is from Philadelphia. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1912-S (238,000) and the 1885 (1,476,490).
Of the 32 Liberty Head "V" Nickels Philadelphia struck between 1883 and 1913, this is the scarcest. No Liberty Head "V" Nickel of the 1910s had a smaller run.
Branch mint nickels and the five 1913 pieces (1912 to 1913)
In 1912 Denver and San Francisco struck nickels for the first time, with a small D or S mint mark to the left of CENTS on the reverse. Denver struck 8.5 million, but San Francisco made only 238,000, late in the year, making the 1912-S a key date. Philadelphia added another 26 million in 1912, so the P coin is common.
The Buffalo nickel replaced the Liberty Head in 1913. No Liberty Head nickels were officially struck that year. Five pieces dated 1913 surfaced in 1920 through Samuel Brown, a former Mint employee. They are among the most famous American rarities. Any other 1913 Liberty Head nickel is an alteration. The 1912-S is usually found in Very Good to Fine. Added mint marks on Philadelphia coins are a known fake.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1913
James Earle Fraser's Buffalo nickel replaced the Liberty Head nickel. The bison was redrawn standing on flat ground partway through the year because the raised mound wore away too quickly.
How to recognize it
Liberty faces left wearing a coronet inscribed LIBERTY, with 13 stars around her and the date below. The reverse has a large Roman numeral V inside a wreath with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The word CENTS was added below the wreath partway through 1883. Mint marks, used only on the 1912-D and 1912-S, are on the reverse to the left of CENTS.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Liberty Head "V" Nickel (1883–1913) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1913 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 5 (includes proofs) |
| Face value | 5¢ |
| Composition | 75% copper, 25% nickel |
| Weight | 5 grams |
| Diameter | 21.2 mm |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Charles E. Barber |
Mintage: United States nickel mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.