The 1868 Shield Nickel is extremely common as the mintage is very high (almost 29 million) making it the second most common coin in the series and the ideal type coin. Easily accessible in all grades until MS67 where it becomes quite scarce. This issue is known to be well struck but suffers from problems with die cracks.
| coinage-type | Shield nickel |
| desg | MS |
| designer | James B. Longacre |
| diameter | 20.5 |
| edge | Plain |
| material | 75% copper; 25% nickel |
| mintage | 28,817,000 |
| ngc-id | 22P2 |
| obverse-description | A shield flanked on the left and right by leaves topped with a cross with arrows positioned behind at the bottom so the arrow heads and shanks protrude at the sides. The motto IN GOD WE TRUST appears at the top periphery with the date positioned at the bottom center. |
| pcgs-link | 3795 |
| pcgs-number | 3795 |
| reverse-description | A large numeral 5 surrounded by 13 stars centered in the design with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA * CENTS around the periphery. |
| weight-grams | 5 |
| year-display | 1867-1883 |