1873 Shield Nickel, Closed 3

This 1873 Shield nickel is the popular "Closed 3" variety, so called because the knobs at the ends of the 3 are so close together it looks like an 8. Back then, workers at the mint struck the date into dies by hand. Midway through 1873, the mint replaced the punch, correcting the problem, and created this low-mintage variety – the "Closed 3." Harry Boosel, an 1873 specialist, is credited with determining the mintage figures (436,050) for this historic nickel. Travel back to the days before the U.S. Mint was fully automated, and dates were punched by hand, with this important variety.