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1867 5C Rays MS67 NGC. An old fable among numisma

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:13,500.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1867 5C Rays MS67 NGC. An old fable among numisma
<B>1867<5C> Rays MS67 NGC.</B></I> An old fable among numismatists regarding the Shield Nickel is that the reverse rays were dropped after less than two years of production because of an outcry in the North about the supposed link between James Barton Longacre's design and the "Stars and Bars" of the recently defunct Southern Confederacy. Although it makes a good story, this theory is almost certainly not correct. More likely, the Mint removed the rays from the reverse of the Shield Nickel in 1867 in order to make the new denomination easier to produce. Since only 2 million Rays Shield Nickels were produced in 1867 (as opposed to 28.8 million coins without rays), it is little wonder that this second-year variety is difficult to locate in the finer Mint State grades. This uncommonly bold, Superb Gem is easily among the finest we have ever seen of the issue and NGC concurs, this being the only MS67 certified to date (04/05). The surfaces are particularly lustrous and only a horizontal die crack above and to the right of the date provides an indication of the tremendous die stress generated by this more complicated design. Population: 1 in 67, 0 finer (4/05).<BR><I>From The Western Hills Collection.</B></I>