“Of all the fads to grip America, probably the most futile was the search for 1913 Liberty nickels,” wrote Clint McGirr in “Futile Fad” for the November 1964 Coins magazine. “It’s [sic] grip was so widespread in the 1920’s and 1930’s that there’s hardly a man or woman over 40 who hasn’t searched his or her change for the nickel.”
1913 was the year of changeover from the Liberty Head to the Indian Head design. No 1913 Liberty Head nickels should exist, yet five do and bring millions when offered at auction. Until my article appeared in, in 2017, it was widely believed that the hobby first learned of the rarity through Samuel W. Brown’s advertisement in the December 1919 issue of the American Numismatic Association’s publication,, where he offered to pay $500 for the coin. As documented in that publication, Brown showed up at the August 1920 Chicago conventionthat even before his first advertisement ran in, Brown, a former Philadelphia Mint employee, attended the Dec. 3, 1913, meeting of the 1920 convention’s host club, the Chicago Coin Club, with one of the nickels. This was only a few months after he was pictured at the ANA’s October 1919 convention in Philadelphia, where he was part of a tour of his former workplace.
