We know the five-cent coin as a nickel, but it wasn't always so.
The first five-cent coin was not called a nickel, and for a very
good reason: it was not made of nickel. This coin was made of
silver, like the dime. In the Mint's early days, all coins had
to be made of gold, silver, or copper by law. This five-cent
coin was called a "half disme" (pronounced like "dime"). A new
five-cent coin, made of nickel (and copper), was created in
1866...but the half disme kept being made of silver until 1873.
So both kinds of five-cent coin were circulating at the same
time. The half disme was much smaller than today's nickel, too.
That's because silver has always cost more than nickel. The
value of silver coins depended on their weight, so the half
disme had to be exactly half the weight of a disme. When
Congress decided to make a five-cent coin of nickel and copper,
the coin had to be made larger. This was good, because this
nickel was much easier to handle than the tiny silver half
disme. The man on the nickel is Pres