The original copper–nickel five-cent piece, the Shield nickel, had longstanding production problems, and in the early 1880s, the United States Mint was looking to replace it.

For almost thirty years large quantities of coin of this design were produced to meet commercial demand, especially as coin-operated machines became increasingly popular.

[1] The Shield nickel presented difficulties through its life: the intricate design made the coins not strike well.

[4] Barber's design for the nickel showed a portrait similar to that eventually adopted for the obverse, with "United States of America" and the date.

[5] Snowden decided that the proposed cents and three-cent pieces would be too small for effective use, but Barber continued work on the nickel, with the size adjusted to 21.21 millimetres (0.835 in).

[6] Late that year, Barber's 1882 design was endorsed by Mint authorities, and 25 specimens were sent to Washington for routine approval by Treasury Secretary Charles J. Folger.

The secretary, on review of the coinage statutes, had realized that the laws required "United States of America" to appear on the reverse, not the obverse.

[9] It had not been thought necessary to inscribe the word "cents" on the nickel; the silver and copper-nickel three-cent pieces had circulated for years with only a Roman numeral to indicate the denomination.

[10] Enterprising fraudsters soon realized that the new nickel was close in diameter to that of the five-dollar gold piece, and if the new coin was gold-plated, it might be passed for five dollars.

[12] A widespread tale is that one of the perpetrators of this fraud was a man named Josh Tatum, who would go into a store, select an item costing five cents or less, and offer the gold-plated piece in payment—and many clerks gave him $4.95 in change.

[15] By 1887, however, the Mint was overwhelmed by orders, melting down large quantities of older copper-nickel coins to meet the demand.

[16] Demand remained strong until 1894, when the Mint temporarily suspended production as it had accumulated a surplus during the Panic of 1893.

The 1896 pieces, which featured a simple shield with arrows crossed behind it, were struck in response to a resolution of the House of Representatives asking the Secretary of the Treasury to report to it on the advantages and disadvantages of using various alloys in coinage.

On April 24, 1906, this restriction was removed, although the first base metal coins, cents in both cases, were not struck at San Francisco until 1908 and Denver until 1911.

A 1912-S nickel, one of the first forty coined, was used by former San Francisco Mayor James D. Phelan to pay the first fare on the city's first streetcar on December 28, 1912.

Mint Director Frank A. Leach was an admirer of Barber's work, and had him prepare designs to be struck as patterns.

Barber, at Leach's request, prepared a design showing Washington's head, and newspapers reported that new coins might be issued by the end of 1909.

At the company's request, Fraser prepared a revised version, but Secretary MacVeagh rejected it on the grounds that the changes compromised the design,[31] which he greatly admired.

[32] On December 13, 1912, Roberts warned the Mint staff to take no action in preparation for the 1913 five-cent coinage until the new designs were ready.

On February 15, 1913, with less than three weeks until he would have to leave office on the advent of the Wilson administration, McVeagh wrote to Roberts, noting that no other vending or slot machine maker had complained about the new design.

The Secretary concluded that everything possible had been done to satisfy the Hobbs Company, and ordered the new nickel put into production.

Today, three are on public display, one at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC and two reside at the ANA's Money Museum in Colorado Springs, while two are owned privately.