Copyright © PeerMetals 2026
1886 Liberty Head nickel value guide -- a genuine semi-key date, and grade-by-grade prices.
Condition drives the price — full breakdown below.
3,330,290 struck — against the other key dates in the Liberty Head Nickel series.
Bars are scaled to keep the smallest mintages visible; the exact figure is printed on every row. Mintage is coins struck, not coins surviving — melting and circulation wear thin those numbers further.
Third-lowest business-strike mintage in the series, behind 1885 and 1912-S -- a genuinely tough and expensive date relative to common years.
A typical Mint State example trades around MS-64, with no dramatic gem-condition price cliff the way some other key dates show.
Live listings matching the 1886 Liberty Head Nickel
Other dates and varieties in this series
What to check before you pay, specific to this date and its 3,330,290-coin mintage.
The same date runs from about $249 worn to $2,629 at the top of the scale — a 11× spread. Nearly all of that gap is condition, not the date on the coin, so work out where an example sits on the table above before deciding whether its asking price is fair.
A PCGS or NGC holder settles authenticity and grade in one go, which is most of what you're actually paying for at this level. The premium it adds is small next to the cost of being wrong about either.
Every Liberty Head Nickel listed here is priced by an individual seller, so the same coin in the same grade can differ by a wide margin on any given day. Sort by price, check Metal Points and order history for a sense of the seller's record, and message them if the photos don't show enough to grade confidently.
About the 1886 Liberty Head Nickel
Value depends heavily on condition. A well-worn example brings closer to $249, while an uncirculated one can reach $2,629 or more.
Third-lowest business-strike mintage in the series, behind 1885 and 1912-S -- a genuinely tough and expensive date relative to common years.
For anything you believe is a key date or an error, professional grading protects both buyer and seller by settling condition and authenticity before money changes hands.
The rest of the series, with what each is worth at the top of the grade scale.
List it free on PeerMetals — flat 2.75% seller fee, zero listing fees, 1–3 day payouts.
