US Racketeer Nickel 1883

Well that's cool, Mary. You have what coin collectors call a Racketeer Nickel. Unscrupulous fellows back in 1883 found the newly issued Liberty V nickels in pocket change, gold plated them, and tried to pass them as $5 gold pieces. Not a bad mark-up, I'd say. Of course they were worth only a nickel.

Soon the US government wised up and placed the word CENTS on the coin, a small detail they had overlooked at first.

Anyone can make a racketeer nickel out of an 1883 'no cents' nickel by gold plating it. If you can find one actually from 1883, and can somehow prove it comes from that time, collectors might be willing to pay a large premium. Maybe $50 US dollars or so. The tough part is proving that you have a coin from a real racketeer, not a modern wanna-be! Presumably, a coin from a real racketeer would not have more than a year or two of wear on it before it was gold plated, but it could have lots of wear after it was gold plated. Gold plated coins not proven to come from a real racketeer sell for about $10 on eBay.

See our page on normal Liberty V nickels at this link.
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