Today the lowly five-cent piece (nickel) is under attack for costing the Mint too much to make. But this was not always the case.
It was first struck in 1866 and immediately became one of our most popular coins. At the present time, with inflation, it is still well used but more as making change than a valuable item in its own right. Until the early 1960s, however, it still meant something and those who grew up in the 1930s and 1940s can remember the pleasure of getting a nickel to spend.
The idea for the nickel, in some ways, came from an 1857 change in the alloy used for the one-cent piece. From the large and bulky copper cents struck before that time, the composition was changed to one of copper and nickel. Although only 12 percent by weight, the nickel overpowered the copper and gave the coin its special color. Soon, the public gave the name ‘nickel’ to this new cent piece.
During the Civil War, which erupted in April 1861, the public hoarded coined metal of all kinds. By the summer of 1862 this frenzy had reached down to touch the lowly cent and soon even this coin was seldom seen in the marketplace. In 1864, due to this war-time emergency, the copper-nickel alloy yielded to a bronze composition, which was easily obtained and quickly minted.
