# United States currency/5¢

The United States five-cent coin, commonly called a nickel, is a unit of currency equaling one-twentieth, or five hundredths, of a United States dollar.
The nickel's design since 1938 has featured a profile of President Thomas Jefferson on the obverse. From 1938 to 2003, Monticello was featured on the reverse. For 2004 and 2005, nickels featured new designs to commemorate the bicentennials of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition; these new designs were called the Westward Journey nickel series. In 2006, Monticello returned to the reverse, while a new image of Jefferson facing forward was featured on the obverse.

## 5¢ of the United States

* Value: 0.05 U.S. dollar
* Mass: 5.000 g (0.161 troy oz)
* Diameter: 21.21 mm (0.835 in)
* Thickness: 1.95 mm (0.077 in)
* Edge: plain
* Composition: 75% Cu, 25% Ni
* "Wartime Nickels"
* From mid-1942 to 1945
* 56% Cu, 35% Ag, 9% Mn
* Years of Minting: 1866–Present, excepting 1922, 1932, and 1933
Obverse
* Design: Thomas Jefferson
* Designer: Jamie Franki
* Design Date: 2006
Reverse
* Design: Monticello
* Designer: Felix Schlag
* Design Date: 1938

## General History

Prior to introduction of the nickel, five-cent pieces were very small silver coins called half dimes. Due to shortages of silver during and after the American Civil War, an alternative metal was needed for five-cent coinage, and the copper-nickel alloy still in use today was selected. Numerous problems plagued the coinage of nickels through the middle of the 20th century due to the extreme hardness of the alloy, but modern minting equipment has proven more than adequate for the task.
Nickels have always had a value of one cent per gram (even when special nickel-free versions were issued temporarily during World War II). They were designed as 5 grams in the metric units when they were introduced in 1866, shortly before the Act of July 28, 1866 declared the metric system to be legal for use in the United States.
Applying the term "nickel" to a coin actually precedes the usage of five-cent pieces made from nickel alloy. The term was originally applied to the Indian Head cent coin from 1859–1864 which was composed of copper-nickel. Throughout the Civil War these cents were referred to as "nickels" or "nicks". When the three-cent nickel came onto the scene in 1865, these were the new "nickels" to the common person on the street. In 1866, the Shield nickel hit the spotlight and forever changed the way Americans associated coins made from nickel alloy with a particular denomination.
Local calls placed from public phone booths in the United States cost a nickel in most places until the early 1950s, when the charge was doubled to a dime (10 cents). However, in some places — notably in New Orleans, but mostly in scattered rural areas — the price for such calls remained at a nickel as late as the mid-1970s. This gave rise to the phrase "It's your nickel" in conversations to refer to the prerogative of the person who paid for the phone call to steer the conversation. Cost of a ride on a public transit vehicle — such as a bus or subway — also stood at a nickel during the same period that a pay-phone call carried that charge, in many cities.

## Previous Designs
### Shield Nickel

The Shield nickel, minted from 1866 to 1883, was America's first nickel five-cent piece.

#### Origin

During the Civil War, gold and silver coinage was hoarded in large quantities. Since all coinage of that era except the cent contained precious metals, this resulted in a shortage of small change, which in turn led to the creation of fractional currency. These low-value paper notes ("shinplasters") were widely disliked, since some merchants refused to accept them and they wore out extremely quickly. Consequently, in 1865, Mint Director James Pollock officially endorsed the creation of a nickel five-cent piece to replace the hated fractional notes. The Mint's chief engraver, James B. Longacre, created a design based on his previous two-cent piece, with a shield as the main obverse motif. On May 16, 1866, legislation enabling the new coin was enacted, and Shield nickels began to be struck that year.

#### Early History

Since nickel is an extremely hard and brittle metal, it was difficult for the Mint to strike, even in the 25% nickel, 75% copper alloy used for this coin. In fact, it had recently been abandoned for use in the cent for that reason, where it was replaced with a bronze alloy much easier to work with. Its use in coinage was chiefly due to the political influence of nickel magnate Joseph Wharton. The coin's original reverse design had a circle of 13 stars, with rays between each pair of stars. These were removed one year later. Apparently, some individuals complained that the reverse design too closely resembled that of the Confederate flag. Moreover, the high-relief rays exacerbated the coin's inherent striking difficulties. Even when the rays were removed, however, the coins continued to be weakly struck, and the striking dies broke repeatedly.

#### Replacement

The Shield nickel was quite effective in replacing the half dime, as its base metal composition discouraged hoarding and caused it to circulate very widely. The half dime was thus discontinued in 1873. When Charles E. Barber became the new Chief Engraver, he set about placing his own designs on U.S. coinage, and the Shield nickel was replaced with Barber's Liberty Head nickel in 1883.

### Liberty Head V Nickel

The Liberty Head nickel, sometimes referred to as the V nickel due to its reverse design, was an American nickel five-cent piece. Officially, it was minted from 1883 to 1912; a few patterns were struck in 1881 and 1882, and five pieces were surreptitiously struck in 1913, which today number among America's most fabled numismatic rarities. The Liberty Head nickel's composition was the same as that of other U.S. five-cent nickels: 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel.

#### Origin

n 1881, Mint Superintendent James Ross Snowden decided to unify the designs of the cent, three-cent nickel, and five-cent nickel. Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber created Liberty Head designs for all three denominations, and patterns were struck later that year. However, Snowden was unable to implement his desired design alterations for the cent and three-cent nickel, so only the five-cent nickel design ever saw full production.

#### Release

In early 1883, the Liberty Head nickel was first struck for circulation. The first 5.4 million pieces struck contained the Roman numeral V on the reverse, but did not contain the word "CENTS". Con artists quickly noted this, as well as the fact that the coin was roughly the same size as a five-dollar gold coin, and began gold-plating the new nickels and attempting to pass them as gold pieces. According to numismatic legend, one of the perpetrators of this fraud was a deaf-mute named Josh Tatum, whose name is allegedly the origin of the verb "joshing". Supposedly, Tatum was not convicted because, being unable to speak, he did not actually make any fraudulent verbal claims regarding the coins, but merely accepted the change handed to him by the storekeeper. This tale, however, may be apocryphal. Whatever the truth of the case, what is known is that the Mint decided to add the word "CENTS" to the reverse design of the Liberty Head nickel in the middle of the 1883 striking, and this change remained until the coin was discontinued.

#### Design History

Liberty Head nickels were struck every year from 1883 to 1912. Most were struck at the main U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, but in 1912 the Denver and San Francisco mints also produced the coins. These can be distinguished from the Philadelphia-mint strikes by a small D or S mint mark on the reverse, which is located below the lower left dot. In 1913, the Liberty Head nickel was superseded by James Earle Fraser's new design: the Indian Head (Buffalo) nickel.

#### 1913

The 1913 Liberty Head nickel is one of the best-known and most coveted rarities in American numismatics. In 1972, one specimen became the first coin to command a price of $100,000; in 1996, another specimen would become the first to break the million-dollar barrier. In 2003 one coin was sold for almost $3 million. Only five examples are known to exist: two in museums and three in private collections.

##### Origin

The Indian Head ("Buffalo") nickel was introduced in February 1913, replacing the Liberty Head design. These were the first official strikings of nickels in 1913; the United States Mint's official records do not record any Liberty Head nickels produced that year. Liberty Head nickels dated 1913 first came to the attention of the numismatic community in 1920. All five were in the possession of Samuel Brown, a numismatist who attended the American Numismatic Association's annual convention and displayed the coins there. Brown had previously placed an advertisement in The Numismatist in December 1919 seeking information on these coins and offering to pay $500 for each. Ostensibly, the coins had been purchased as a result of this offer. However, Samuel Brown had been a Mint employee in 1913, and many numismatic historians have concluded that he was therefore responsible for striking the coins himself and then removing them from the Mint. If true, this would not have been a unique occurrence; such clandestine strikes were actually quite common in the 19th century, with the Class II and III 1804 silver dollars being perhaps the best-known instance. Other numismatic authorities, such as Q. David Bowers, have questioned this scenario, and pointed out that there are several methods by which the coins could have been legitimately produced. Bowers suggests, for instance, that they may have been lawfully issued by the Mint's Medal Department "for cabinet purposes," or that they could be trial pieces struck in late 1912 to test the following year's new coinage dies.

##### Pedigree

In January 1924, Samuel Brown sold all five 1913 Liberty Head nickels. The intact lot passed through the hands of several other coin dealers before finally being purchased by Colonel E.H.R. Green (son of the infamous miser Hetty Green). Green kept them in his collection until his death in 1936. His estate was then auctioned off, and all five of the 1913 Liberty Head nickels were purchased by two dealers, Eric P. Newman and B.G. Johnson. The dealers broke up the set for the first time.

##### Eliasberg Specimen

Of the five 1913 Liberty Head nickels, two have proof surfaces, and the other three were produced with standard striking techniques. The finest of the coins has been graded Proof-66 by various professional grading services, including PCGS and NGC.
This coin was purchased from Newman and Johnson by the Numismatic Gallery, a coin dealership that then sold it to famed collector Louis Eliasberg. It remained in Eliasberg's comprehensive collection until after his death. In May 1996, it was sold at an auction conducted by Bowers and Merena, where it was purchased by rarities dealer Jay Parrino for $1,485,000 – the most ever fetched by any single coin up until that point. When it was auctioned again in March 2001, the price climbed to $1,840,000. In May 2005, Legend Numismatics purchased the Eliasberg specimen for $4,150,000. In 2007, the Eliasberg Specimen was sold to an unnamed collector in California for $5 million.

##### Olsen Specimen

While the Eliasberg specimen is the best preserved of the five coins, the Olsen specimen is almost certainly the most famous. It has been graded Proof-64 by both PCGS and NGC, making it one of only two Proofs (the Eliasberg specimen being the other). The Olsen specimen was featured on an episode of Hawaii Five-O (The $100,000 Nickel, aired on December 11, 1973). It was also briefly owned by Egyptian King Farouk.
When Newman and Johnson broke up the set of five coins, the Olsen specimen was sold first to James Kelly and then to Fred Olson. The latter collector sold the coin to Farouk, but his name has remained attached to it in numismatic circles ever since. In 1972, it was sold to World Wide Coin Investments for $100,000, thus inspiring its title appearance in Hawaii Five-O the following year. The coin's price had doubled, to $200,000, when it was resold to Superior Galleries in 1978. It has been resold on several occasions since then, most recently fetching $3,000,000 in June 2004. The current owner's name has not been disclosed.

##### Norweb Specimen

The Norweb specimen is one of two 1913 Liberty Head nickels that currently reside in museums. It is currently an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution.
Newman and Johnson sold the Norweb specimen to F.C.C. Boyd, who then resold it to the Numismatic Gallery (which handled several of the coins over the years). In 1949, it was purchased by King Farouk to replace the Olsen specimen, which he had sold. It remained in Farouk's collection until he was deposed by Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1952. Two years after that, Farouk's possessions were all auctioned off by the new regime. The specimen was once again handled by Numismatic Gallery, and sold this time to Ambassador Henry Norweb and his wife. In 1977, the Norwebs donated the specimen to the Smithsonian, where it remains.

##### Walton Specimen

The Walton specimen is the most elusive of the five 1913 Liberty Head nickels; for over 40 years, its whereabouts were unknown and it was believed to have been lost. George O. Walton, for whom the specimen is named, purchased it from Newman and Johnson in 1945 for approximately $3,750. On March 9, 1962, Walton died in a car crash en route to a coin show. He had promised the show's promoters that he would exhibit the 1913 Liberty Head nickel there, so it was assumed to have been among the coins in his possession when he died. However, although over a quarter million dollars worth of rare coins were recovered from the crash site, the 1913 Liberty Head nickel was not among them. Some numismatists believed that it had either been lost in the crash or had been taken from the site by an unknown individual. In fact, the coin had not been in the vehicle at all. It remained in the possession of Walton's heirs, but was misidentified as an altered coin. In July 2003, the American Numismatic Association arranged to exhibit the four specimens whose whereabouts were known. A $10,000 reward was offered to anyone who could identify the whereabouts of the fifth coin, with the Bowers and Merena auction house guaranteeing that it would fetch at least $1,000,000 at public auction. After carefully comparing their coin to digital photos of the other specimens, the Walton heirs began to doubt the original verdict that their coin was fake. They brought it to the ANA convention, where expert authenticators examined it at length and determined that it was in fact the genuine Walton specimen. The coin is still held by the Walton heirs.

##### McDermott Specimen

Currently held by the American Numismatic Association's Money Museum, the McDermott Specimen has the distinction of being the only 1913 Liberty Head nickel to bear marks of circulation. From Johnson and Newman, it was sold to James Kelly, then to J.V. McDermott; it was this latter owner whose name became most prominently attached to the coin's pedigree. McDermott often carried the coin around with him, showing it off to bar patrons and boasting of its extraordinary rarity and value. Due to this activity, the coin lost some of its original mint luster, becoming circulated in condition. Eventually, McDermott protected the coin with a holder to prevent further wear. After McDermott died, the coin was then sold at auction to Aubrey Bebee in 1967 for $46,000. Bebee and his wife donated the coin to the ANA in 1989, where it is exhibited in the Money Museum.

### Buffalo Nickel

The Indian Head nickel, also known as the Buffalo nickel, was an American nickel five-cent piece minted from 1913 to 1938. It was designed by sculptor James Earle Fraser.

#### Design History

The Liberty Head nickel design had been introduced in 1883 by Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber. In the early 1900s, President Theodore Roosevelt had embarked upon a campaign to change the designs of U.S. coinage, most of which had been designed by Barber. Roosevelt considered Barber's coinage ugly and preferred ancient Greek designs, which incorporated high relief. During his administration, Roosevelt had the old double eagle replaced with a new design by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, but most of the minor coinage was not altered. In 1911, Treasury Secretary Franklin MacVeagh, who had worked with Roosevelt in the past and agreed with his opinions on U.S. coinage design, hired James Earle Fraser to design a new nickel.
Fraser featured a profile of a Native American on the obverse of the coin, which was a composite portrait of three Native American chiefs: Iron Tail, Two Moons and John Big Tree. Big Tree's profile was used to create that portion of the portrait from the top of the forehead to the upper lip. (A composite was required because of the federal law that prohibits living individuals from being portrayed on U.S. currency.)
The "buffalo" portrayed on the reverse was an American Bison, possibly Black Diamond, from the Central Park Zoo.

#### Design Changes

Soon after the Indian Head nickel went into circulation, it became apparent that the reverse design was problematic; the "FIVE CENTS" inscription, which was on a raised mound at the bottom of the reverse, was one of the highest spots on the coin, and thus wore away very quickly. As a result, the design was modified by Charles Barber during its first year of production. Barber removed the raised mound and lowered the relief of the inscription so that it would not wear away as quickly, along with other design changes. However, one problem that was not addressed was the placement of the date. Like "FIVE CENTS" in the original design, the date was placed at a relief that exposed it to a great deal of wear. (A similar problem would later be seen on the Standing Liberty Quarter.) This issue was never definitively addressed by the Mint, so many Indian Head nickels have their dates partially or completely obliterated through extensive circulation.
A more radical, if unofficial, design change for the Indian Head nickel was the advent of the hobo nickel. Enterprising artists would scrape away the original obverse and modify the Native American, his headdress, or the background to create a completely original work of art. Even more ambitious efforts completely eliminated the original design save a few key features (usually the date).
An interesting design variety was produced in 1937 (one year before the production of these nickels was stopped)-the 1937-D "3-Legged" buffalo nickel. The buffalo's right foreleg is gone on this rare error. This was produced when the leg was accidentally ground off in the process of removing marks from the die. In Mint State condition this coin is worth a significant amount of money. Some normal buffalo nickels have had the front leg ground down as an attempt to mimic the more valuable die error, but these can be distinguished by other features present on the "3-Legged" buffalo nickel.

#### Circulation Status

Most Buffalo nickels were removed from circulation in the 1950s and 1960s in various degrees of wear, although it wasn't uncommon with diligent searching to find one as late as the early 1980s. Today, any talk of a Buffalo Nickel showing up in circulation is notable, as approximately 1 in 25,000 nickels in circulation today is a Buffalo Nickel. Many of these have the date completely worn off.

#### Mint Marks

Indian Head nickels were minted at the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco Mints and either have a 'D', 'S', or no mint mark on the reverse of the coin below the words FIVE CENTS.

## Profile of Jefferson Nickel (1938–2004)

The Jefferson nickel, designed by Felix Schlag in a Mint-sponsored contest, was minted beginning in 1938. (In 1966 his initials were added to the base of the bust.) The obverse features a profile of Thomas Jefferson, while the reverse features his Virginian estate, Monticello. The steps on the building were slightly modified during 1939, but otherwise the design did not change until 2003. All three mints turned out vast quantities of Jefferson nickels until 1954, when San Francisco halted production for 14 years, resuming only from 1968 to 1970, although it still produces proof coins. Since 1970 all nickels for circulation have been minted at Philadelphia and Denver. Mint marks may be found on the reverse, in the right field between Monticello and the rim, on nickels from 1938 to 1964. From 1965 to 1967, no mint marks were used, and beginning in 1968, the mint mark was moved to the obverse, just below the date, where it remains today. In 1980, the Philadelphia mint began using a "P" mint mark on all nickels. This design is by far the most common currently in circulation.

#### Wartime Nickels

From mid 1942 to 1945, so-called "Wartime" composition nickels were created. These coins are 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese. The only other U.S. coins to use manganese are the Sacagawea and presidential dollars. These coins are usually a bit darker than regular nickels, said to be due to their manganese content (as was true of many British coins minted from 1920 through 1947). However, carefully-protected proof sets of these coins are difficult to tell from the standard alloy. A more likely reason for the darker appearance of the wartime coin was due to exposure to sulfur during circulation, which invariably gave the coins a mild and somewhat distinctive dark silver tarnish.[citation needed]
The wartime nickel features the largest mint mark ever to grace a United States coin, located above Monticello's dome on the reverse. This mark was a large D or S if appropriate for those mints, but nickels of this series minted in Philadelphia have the unique distinction of being the only U.S. coins minted prior to 1979 to bear a P mint mark. There are eleven coins in the regular series (plus a moderately scarce overdate, the 1943/2-P), and they can be purchased in circulated condition at low cost. When the price of silver rose in the 1960s the "war nickels" quickly disappeared from circulation, a process often aided by their distinctive silver-tarnish appearance, which sometimes appeared in banded form from contact of coins with sulfur-containing elastic bands in pockets.
An unofficial variety of the wartime coin dated 1944 was made in 1954 when counterfeit nickels were produced by Francis LeRoy Henning of Erial, New Jersey. He had previously been arrested for counterfeiting $5 bills. The 1944 nickels were quickly spotted since Henning neglected to add the large mintmark. He also made counterfeit nickels dated 1939, 1946, 1947, and possibly 1953 as well as one other unidentified date. It is estimated that more than 100,000 of Henning's nickels reached circulation. These can still be found in pocket change, and there is a thriving collectors' market for them, although owning a counterfeit is technically illegal. Henning dumped another 200,000 nickels in Copper Creek, New Jersey, of which only 14,000 were recovered. Another 200,000 are thought to have been dumped in the Schuylkill River. When caught, Henning was sentenced to 3 years in jail, and was required to pay a $5,000 fine.

## As Collectibles

Jefferson nickels are one of the easiest sets of any denomination to collect from circulation. One can still find coins from the 1940s in circulation on occasion. Many Jefferson nickel collectors look for fully struck steps on the image of Monticello. Premiums are paid for coins with five or six full steps. These are fairly rare, even on current issues. Proofs and special mint set coins (1965–1967), as well as matte proofs, exist, and have value above circulating coinage. Specialists look for the number of discernable steps on the façade of Monticello, and those without wear are known as "Full Step" Jefferson Nickels. One of the rarest, or "key dates" of the series is the 1950-D nickel. It has the lowest mintage of all the Jeffersons minted. However, they are not hard to find in higher grades, since it was known by the public from the beginning that the mintage was low, and thus they were hoarded. In uncirculated condition, the 1939-D, 1939-S, and 1942-D are far rarer than the 1950-D and command higher prices than any other coins in the series.

### Westward Journey Nickel Series

Throughout the 20th century, Congress allowed the U.S. Mint to make changes to coinage every 25 years without specific authorization. Since the 1990s the government had begun to respond to lobbying in favor of changing coinage design. This led to the State Quarters series and in 2002, a proposal to change 2003 nickels as well. Initial proposals by the Mint had a new obverse based on a portrait by Gilbert Stuart, and a reverse with an American Indian and a bald eagle facing west.
Congressman Eric Cantor (R-Virginia), the Chief Deputy Majority Whip for his party, objected to the lack of consultation with Congress about their proposal, and was particularly concerned that Monticello, located near his district, would not return to the reverse of the nickel in 2006. Some raised the issue that the Mint's proposed new reverse did not relate specifically enough to Lewis & Clark or the Louisiana Purchase, the events that the proposed changes were meant to commemorate. This led to the enactment of Public Law 108-15, the American 5-cent Coin Design Continuity Act, in 2003. This act, originally dubbed the Keep Monticello on the Nickel Act by Cantor, modified the United States Code to require the return to a depiction of Monticello starting in January 2006, and permanently eliminate the Mint's right to change it again without Congressional approval. The delay and controversy meant the Mint ran out of time to change the reverse of the nickel in 2003.
Upon passage of Cantor's new law, the Mint proposed the Westward Journey nickel series. The series consisted of two new reverse designs for 2004 and two for 2005.

#### 2004 Designs

n 2004, the reverse of the nickel changed, with two different designs during the year. The first design, placed into circulation on March 1, 2004, featured a design based upon a rendition of the original Indian Peace Medal commissioned for Lewis and Clark's expedition. It was designed by Norman E. Nemeth.
In the autumn of 2004, the reverse changed again to feature a view of Lewis and Clark's keelboat in full sail that transported members of the Corps of Discovery expedition and their supplies through the rivers of the Louisiana Territory. This design depicts Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in full uniform, standing in the bow of the keelboat. This nickel was designed by Al Maletsky.

#### 2005 Designs

On September 16, 2004, the U.S. Mint unveiled its new designs for 2005. They had been chosen by John W. Snow on July 22, 2004 but were not disclosed to the public. The U.S. Mint revealed that the Felix Schlag depiction of Thomas Jefferson was being done away with in favor of a more modern depiction of Jefferson. The new obverse of the Jefferson nickel was designed by Joe Fitzgerald and engraved by Don Everhart II. Its circulation began on February 28, 2005.
Also unveiled on September 16, 2004 were two new reverses. A depiction of the American bison temporarily returns to the reverse after a 67-year absence. The new reverse was designed by Jamie N. Franki and engraved by Norman E. Nemeth. The U.S. Mint had been lobbied to include the American bison on the nickel in the hope of keeping the public interested in its continuing recovery after nearly being hunted to extinction after the completion of the transcontinental railroad.
The final Westward Journey nickel reverse was designed by Joe Fitzgerald and engraved by Donna Weaver. It depicts the Pacific Ocean and the words from William Clark's diary upon reaching it. In a controversial move, the U.S. Mint decided to amend Clark's actual words. He had originally written, "Ocian in view! O! The Joy!" but as the spelling "ocian" is nonstandard (and might have led to hoarding in the mistaken belief that the Mint had made an error that would soon be corrected), the U.S. Mint decided to modify it to "ocean".

## Forward-Facing Jefferson (2006)

In 2006, the nickel returned to using Felix Schlag's Monticello design on a newly cast reverse, while the obverse features a new forward-facing portrait of Jefferson, based on the 1800 Rembrandt Peale painting of Jefferson. It is the first U.S. circulating coin that features the image of a President facing forward. The new obverse was designed by Jamie Franki. The word Liberty is shown in Jefferson's own handwriting, as it was on the 2005 Westward Journey nickels.

## Metal Value

As of December 14, 2007 dc, the value of the metal in a United States nickel coin reached 5.5759 cents, a 1.11518 premium over its face value, due to the rising costs of copper and nickel against a falling U.S. Dollar. In an attempt to avoid losing large quantities of circulating nickels to melting, the United States Mint introduced new interim rules on December 14, 2006 criminalizing the melting and export of pennies and nickels. Violators of these rules can be punished with a fine of up to $10,000, five years imprisonment, or both.
Nickels minted from 1942-1945 during World War II contain 1.75 g (0.05626 oz) silver. The silver content of these "war nickels" as of October, 2007 is worth $0.77.
As of February 2, 2008 dc, the value of the metal in United States nickel coin has reached 6.612482746 cents, a 1.22496549 premium over its face value, due to the rising costs of copper and nickel against a falling U.S. Dollar.
--km 23:25, 4 February 2008 (UTC)

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