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1867 5C PR66 Cameo PCGS. While silver half dimes had b

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:22,000.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1867 5C PR66 Cameo PCGS. While silver half dimes had b
<B>1867<5C> PR66 Cameo PCGS.</B></I> Original. Obverse 1, Die State I; Reverse A, Die State I. While silver half dimes had been minted since 1794 and were worth, of course, five cents, the first copper-nickel coinage above the one cent piece was the three cent nickel, entering circulation in 1865. The Act of May 17, 1866, authorized a new format for the five cent piece. The new Shield, With Rays nickels began circulating in the summer of 1866. Copper-nickel five cent pieces coexisted with silver half dimes until 1873, when half dimes were discontinued. The Shield nickels were the first five cent pieces that contained no precious metal.<BR> The term "nickel" was first given to the newly designed copper-nickel cents, launched in 1856 with the Flying Eagle design, and modified in 1859 with the Indian design. By the time of the Civil War (1861), the small cents were referred to as "nickels" or "nicks." When the three cent nickel was launched, it became a "nickel" in common parlance, and the following year the Shield nickel gave rise to the now-current meaning of " nickel five cent piece."<BR> The decade from 1857 to 1866 was marked by "great change within our small change." The two cent piece was also introduced in 1864, another new design and denomination (although primarily made of copper). In addition, the issuance of three cent postage currency created new urgency to introduce copper-nickel coinage, which most factions favored over paper coinage or fractional currency "shinplasters." In preparation for the launch of the new five cent nickel--an extremely hard and durable metal, difficult to strike up well--Mint personnel developed a great many five cent nickel patterns, many of which featured the obverse bust of George Washington. The fervor for Washingtoniana--funeral medals, Indian Peace medals, presidential and Masonic medals, birth-centennial medals, and other types