1911

Philadelphia delivered 39,559,372 Liberty Head nickels in 1911, the highest single-year mintage in the entire series and the production peak of the type. Per NGC, the highest mintage of any Liberty Head nickel year was just over 39.5 million, and no Liberty Head nickel ever topped 40 million in any year. The 1911 is therefore the series' high-water mark, and it would remain the only Philadelphia-only production year at this volume before the 1912 introduction of branch mint coinage.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire killed 146 garment workers (mostly young immigrant women) in New York City on March 25, 1911, when the factory's exit doors had been locked to prevent employee theft and the workers could not escape the fire that broke out on the eighth floor. The disaster drove fundamental changes to fire safety laws, building codes, and labor regulations in New York and eventually across the country. The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union was reshaped by the fire's political aftermath. Nickel coinage had no direct connection to the fire, but the 1911 coins that moved through Lower Manhattan that spring circulated in the weeks and months when the political response to Triangle was building pressure that would reshape American workplace regulation.

The coin is common at every grade level. Circulated examples are abundant, Mint State pieces are readily available, and Gem-quality coins can be acquired at modest prices. The year's production was high enough to ensure that even scarcer grade levels (MS66 and above) are represented by sufficient populations to meet specialist demand.

The 1911 was the last year in which Philadelphia was the sole producer of Liberty Head nickels. 1912 would bring the introduction of branch mint production at Denver and San Francisco, fundamentally changing the date-set landscape for collectors.