The 1880 is the undisputed key date issue in the circulation strike Shield nickel series with only 16,000 pieces produced, a total so small that some readers might question why the Mint bothered to strike any at all. There was clearly no need for new nickel five-cent pieces in commerce that year, and there was already a precedent for Proof-only issues produced under similar circumstances in 1877 and 1878. It was precisely to avoid creating additional Proof-only rarities, however, that Mint Director Archibald Loudon Snowden ordered a small delivery of circulation strike nickels in 1880. This practice explains the similarly low mintage circulation strike dimes, quarters and half dollars of 1880, none of which were required to meet the actual needs of commerce. According to R.W. Julian (as quoted in Q. David Bowers' A Guide Book of Shield and Liberty Head Nickels, 2006):

Snowden specifically asked the Mint Bureau and Treasury for permission to strike limited runs of nickels and three-cent pieces [in 1880] so that collectors of small means, and those needing coins for presents, could obtain them. Applicants were limited to two pieces each, however.

Fortunately for today's collectors of more modest means, enough 1880 Proofs (mintage 3,955) have survived that high grade 1880 nickels are obtainable with ease. For the advanced numismatist specializing in the Shield nickel series, however, a circulation strike 1880 will need to be acquired for their set to be truly complete.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the August 2017 Denver Auction, where it realized $56,400.