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I came across 1 John 5:7 and heard that this verse was not in early manuscripts. It had been added to the Bible later than the 1500s. Is this true? I looked at a Coptic translation for this book in the Bible by the St. Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society and did not find it.

The explanation for the controversy revolving around the Johannine comma most probable pertains to human error caused by the transcriber. There are documents of early church writers that refer to this clause in particular and some earlier Bible versions from the 3rd-7th centuries as well refer to it. St Cyprian [200-258 AD] quoted the verses in question and many other early church fathers/writers also referred to this verse. In addition to some earlier version of the Bible, some smaller manuscripts also include it. Furthermore, because of the heresies at that time, the original Greek texts may have been subjected to tampering. Thus, the early church documents that refer to this very important phrase witnessing to the Holy Trinity are sufficient.

You may read more detail on this subject in a similar inquiry:
http://www.suscopts.org/q&a/index.php?qid=958&catid=390