The government decided to give its five-cent coins a human characteristic, with the new Liberty Head design introduced in 1883. An oversight on the first 5.5 million pieces released, which omitted the word CENTS, sparked a minor controversy. The U.S. Mint added this denomination designation at some point in 1883 and produced another 16 million pieces with CENTS that year.

Production of Liberty Head nickels officially ended after 1912, although five pieces dated 1913 were  surreptitiously struck the following year. These five “unofficial” pieces are part of numismatic lore. One example reportedly sold for $5 million in 2007.