The Shield Nickel
Half a Dime
The new five cent piece you see on the left, was nicknamed the “shield nickel” (for obvious reasons). It was stamped in the United States in 1866, and has a pretty interesting story.
Previously, there was a 5 cent coin, called a ‘half dime’. That coin was made of silver. During the Civil War, U.S. coins were being hoarded and exported. Therefore, precious metals were becoming all that much more precious and many U.S. coins almost disappeared completely from circulation.
In 1864 the government decided to replace many of those coins with paper money (a bank note).
Are You Kidding?
The deciding party, agreed that the image on the 5 cent bank note would be that of William Clark. In the early 1800’s, Clark had helped lead the Lewis and Clark expedition across the Louisiana Purchase to the Pacific Ocean.
However, when the bank note came out, it was discovered that Spencer Clark, head of the Currency Bureau, had put his own portrait on the currency, instead of that of the famous explorer.
How does that happen? I don’t know. Maybe they just said “Let’s put Clark’s picture on it!”, and Spencer Clark thought “Wow!.. Yeah!”.
As a result, U.S. congress immediately voted to discontinued the bank note, and the next year, a new 5 cent coin was struck out of nickel and copper (the Shield Nickel).
For more info, check out the article “Nickel (United States Coin)” on wikipedia.
The Tune
Is the story of the “shield nickel” the inspiration for the tune “The New Five Cent Piece“? I don’t know. But, it’s a good story. From what I’ve read, somebody wrote lyrics to the melody in the early 1900’s, but the tune had been around longer than that.
So, who knows?
Awhile ago, I saw a video on YouTube of Adam Steffey and his wife playing the tune “Rock the Cradle, Joe” from his album “Primitive”. Of course, there were some other good tunes on the album as well, like “Squirrel Hunter” and “Chinquapin Hunting”. So, I purchased it. Consequently, that’s when I first heard the tune “New Five Cent Piece“.
As a result, you see my simple version below. However, it doesn’t have the barrage of rapid-fire notes typical of Steffey, but it is loosely based on that recording.
Listen to “New Five Cent Piece” for mandolin:
New Five Cent Piece
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I hope you enjoy “The New Five Cent Piece“.
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