20 Cents '1/5 Dollar' Pattern, silver

The 1875 twenty-cent piece was one of the most quickly abandoned denominations in American coinage history, killed off just two years after its introduction largely because it was nearly indistinguishable from a quarter in pocket change. This silver pattern, catalogued as Judd-1396, predates that debacle and belongs to the experimental phase when the Mint was still exploring how to label the denomination — hence the "1/5 Dollar" inscription rather than "Twenty Cents."

Nevada silver interests lobbied hard for the coin's creation, and Mint Director Henry Linderman pushed it through Congress in 1875.