NGC Certifies New Shield Nickel Variety
Posted on 3/14/2017
Numismatic Guaranty Corporation has certified a newly discovered variety for the popular Shield Nickel series, which is known by collectors as a fertile hunting ground for such discoveries. The new entry has its date entirely repunched counter-clockwise to the first punching, with numerals 18 duplicated above the final impression and numerals 68 duplicated below.
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| 1868/1868 Rev Of 68 5C VP-026 NGC Unc Details Click images to enlarge. |
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This nickel displays Reverse IIb, more commonly called the Reverse of 1868. Shield Nickels dated 1868 are seen with both this reverse hub and the more plentiful Reverse of 1867. Though the dies appear to have been fairly fresh and unworn, the obverse is dramatically shattered, with extensive cracking that is most evident in and around the date.
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Detail of 1868 Shield Nickel VP-026 Click images to enlarge. |
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NGC Research Director David W. Lange identified the new variety, which had been submitted by a customer as an "overdate." Unable to find it in any reference books or on series specialist Howard Spindel's Shield Nickel variety disc, Lange sent photos of the coin to Spindel. That authority confirmed it was previously unknown and assigned his number S2-3012 to the variety. This is just the latest of several Shield Nickel varieties discovered at NGC and subsequently added to the Spindel catalog.
NGC has labeled this new variety as VP-026 within its own VarietyPlus catalog, and it was graded UNC Details, Improperly Cleaned. Photos of the coin may be seen at NGC's VarietyPlus.
Variety coins may be submitted to NGC for its VarietyPlus attribution service for a fee of $15, which is in addition to the tier cost of grading. For coins already certified by NGC, varieties may be added for this same $15 fee, which includes the cost of reholdering.
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