1865 Shield Five Cent Piece?

[Fullstock]

Got permission to hit an 1840’s house yard today, didn’t find much, but I did find this shield nickel. After cleaning it, the date looks like 1865 to me. When I looked them up, the first official date for issuing them is 1866, but apparently some of the earliest one did have a date of 1865. What do you think?

 

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[Sandog]

View attachment 2009086View attachment 2009087Got permission to hit an 1840’s house yard today, didn’t find much, but I did find this shield nickel. After cleaning it, the date looks like 1865 to me. When I looked them up, the first official date for issuing them is 1866, but apparently some of the earliest one did have a date of 1865. What do you think?

Zoomed in by increasing the screen by 500%. I vote for "5". I'd like to find one even with no date showing.

 

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[Sandog]

 

[Sandog]

Decided it made since to do the same zoom on the examples dated 1865 as shown above. I don't believe they are the same typeface. Too bad. I was rooting for it to be a 5.

 

[Hunk-a-lead]

View attachment 2009086View attachment 2009087Got permission to hit an 1840’s house yard today, didn’t find much, but I did find this shield nickel. After cleaning it, the date looks like 1865 to me. When I looked them up, the first official date for issuing them is 1866, but apparently some of the earliest one did have a date of 1865. What do you think?

very cool find is what I think

 

[Trezurehunter]

It does look like a 5 in the picture. Sometimes a number on the date was smashed down to distort the original number and make it look like another one. You would really have to put a good loupe on it or take it to a coin shop for clarification. No matter what the last digit is, a Shield Nickel is a great coin to find.

 

[brianc053]

well not according to these folks They may have made prototypes but I can't imagine any of those getting into circulation.

Ocean7 is on to something. 1865 Patterns were made of the shield nickel, and the 2-cent piece, sources:

Shield Nickel Patterns

Pictures, values and information for the US pattern collector. The obverse has a shield design similar to that adopted for the regular issue Shield nickel, except that the motto IN GOD WE TRUST is expressed in smaller letters and the date is divided by the ball at the base of the shield. On the...

coinauctionshelp.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shield_nickel

But I think we have to be realistic: these patterns were just that - patterns the mint used to test various dies ahead of issuing general circulation coins, made in very VERY small numbers and carefully controlled. The chances of a pattern coin getting into circulation, and then into the ground where a detectors would find it, are very low.

The chances of an 1866 (mintage: 14.7million) being dropped and then the natural affects of the ground causing the last digit to be unclear are much, much higher.
(Plus I think I see the last digit as a "6" anyway).

I'm sorry - I'm not trying to rain on your parade, @Fullstock .
I've gone through the same struggle lately with a coin (see my comments about 1803 vs 1807 in this thread, where I say "Let me talk about that Draped Bust for a minute": https://www.treasurenet.com/threads...n-two-of-us-including-2-state-coppers.673527/). It's hard to stay objective, and I'm sure that's why you asked everyone for their input via this thread, Fullstock.
I hope you won't hate me for my input.
- Brian

 

[Fullstock]

Ocean7 is on to something. 1865 Patterns were made of the shield nickel, and the 2-cent piece, sources:

Shield Nickel Patterns

Pictures, values and information for the US pattern collector. The obverse has a shield design similar to that adopted for the regular issue Shield nickel, except that the motto IN GOD WE TRUST is expressed in smaller letters and the date is divided by the ball at the base of the shield. On the...

coinauctionshelp.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shield_nickel

But I think we have to be realistic: these patterns were just that - patterns the mint used to test various dies ahead of issuing general circulation coins, made in very VERY small numbers and carefully controlled. The chances of a pattern coin getting into circulation, and then into the ground where a detectors would find it, are very low.

The chances of an 1866 (mintage: 14.7million) being dropped and then the natural affects of the ground causing the last digit to be unclear are much, much higher.
(Plus I think I see the last digit as a "6" anyway).

I'm sorry - I'm not trying to rain on your parade, @Fullstock .
I've gone through the same struggle lately with a coin (see my comments about 1803 vs 1807 in this thread, where I say "Let me talk about that Draped Bust for a minute": https://www.treasurenet.com/threads...n-two-of-us-including-2-state-coppers.673527/). It's hard to stay objective, and I'm sure that's why you asked everyone for their input via this thread, Fullstock.
I hope you won't hate me for my input.
- Brian

It’s all good Brian, that’s why I asked for opinions.