Heritage Auctions
Nickel · $0.05
1866 Pattern & Experimental Coins
Key Features
- Judd-486, struck in nickel - Also: Judd-487 (copper), Judd-488 (bronze), Judd-488a (brass) - The only U.S. pattern coins with Lincoln's portrait - Sale: $36,800 for a Judd-488, PR64 (2005)
Intriguing History
A year after his assassination, Abraham Lincoln appeared on a five-cent pattern. Judd lists it in nickel (Judd-486), copper (Judd-487) and bronze (Judd-488). These are the only U.S. patterns with Lincoln's portrait. Mint Director James Pollock reportedly never showed it to the Treasury Secretary, believing it would be badly received in the South so soon after the war. A bronze example sold for $36,800 in 2005.