Aside from a few years, the Liberty Nickel mintages occurred in relatively high numbers. Most of the Philadelphia Mint issues were struck with a mintage of 10 million or greater, with a few notable exceptions. The 1885 Liberty Nickel and the 1886 Liberty Nickel with mintages of 1.4 million and 3.3 million are considered key dates.
The lowest mintage issue of the series is the 1912-S Liberty Nickel, although in most grades the issue is more common than the 1885 and 1886 issues. As the first five cent nickel struck at the San Francisco Mint, this issue was more likely to be saved from circulation.
Separate mintages are included for the 1883 Liberty Nickel struck with or without the word “CENTS” on the reverse. When the series was first introduced, it lacked the indication of the denomination which led to some unscrupulous individuals gold plating the nickels and passing them off as $5 gold pieces.
Liberty Nickel Mintages
| Issue | Mintage |
|---|---|
| 1883 with CENTS | 16,026,200 |
| 1883 without CENTS | 5,474,300 |
| 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 |
