There are four basic nickel designs: Shield, Liberty, Buffalo and the Jefferson, with only slight variations in early coins.

A five-cent coin made of copper-nickel, it depicts the bust of a Native American profile on the front and an American bison ...

The nickel has a long history in U.S. money, though it wasn’t the country’s first 5-cent coin. That honor goes to a “half-dime” that first appeared in 1794. Early 5-cent pieces weren’t ...