Liberty Nickel Mintage
The Liberty Nickel was introduced in 1883 to replace the Shield Nickel series, which concluded in the same year. The first year of issue is found with or without the word "CENTS" on the reverse of the coin. This word was not included on the original design rendering and led to the situation where unscrupulous individuals gold plated the nickels and passed them off as $5 gold pieces.
The lowest mintage Liberty Nickel struck for circulation is the 1912-S with only 238,000. Earlier low mintage dates can actually be more difficult to locate, and more costly in circulated grades. These include the 1885 and 1886 coins minted at Philadelphia.
The table below contains the mintage for the Liberty Head Nickels struck for circulation. Proof coins were also struck each year at the Philadelphia Mint.
| Date | Mintage |
| 1883 No CENTS | 5,474,300 |
| 1883 with CENTS | 16,026,200 |
| 1884 | 11,270,000 |
| 1885 | 1,473,300 |
| 1886 | 3,326,000 |
| 1887 | 15,260,692 |
| 1888 | 10,715,901 |
| 1889 | 15,878,025 |
| 1890 | 16,256,532 |
| 1891 | 16,832,000 |
| 1892 | 11,696,897 |
| 1893 | 13,368,000 |
| 1894 | 5,410,500 |
| 1895 | 9,977,822 |
| 1896 | 8,841,048 |
| 1897 | 20,426,797 |
| 1898 | 12,530,292 |
| 1899 | 26,027,000 |
| 1900 | 27,253,733 |
| 1901 | 26,478,228 |
| 1902 | 31,487,581 |
| 1903 | 28,004,930 |
| 1904 | 21,403,167 |
| 1905 | 29,825,124 |
| 1906 | 38,612,000 |
| 1907 | 39,213,325 |
| 1908 | 22,684,557 |
| 1909 | 11,585,763 |
| 1910 | 30,166,948 |
| 1911 | 39,557,639 |
| 1912 | 26,234,569 |
| 1912-D | 8,474,000 |
| 1912-S | 238,000 |
| 1913 | 5 known |