Three Cent Silvers

(1851-1873)

Type 1 (1851-1853)

Although the notion of a three-cent piece strikes us as strange today, in 1851 the denomination actually seemed like a good idea to members of Congress and even to members of the public. It did serve a purpose for a time. The impetus for this coin—the smallest ever issued by Uncle Sam in terms of weight and thickness—was twofold. It was “fathered,” so to speak, by the California Gold Rush and “mothered” by the nation’s postal system.

Following the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in 1848, thousands of fortune-seekers swarmed to California. The “Forty-Niners” and others who followed them mined enormous quantities of gold. That, in turn, had a direct impact on U.S. coinage: The massive new supplies of gold depressed that metal’s value in relation to silver, leading to.... (Expand Text)

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1855 SILVER 3CS MS66

TYPE 2. GEM SATIN LUSTROUS SURFACES WITH LIGHT PINKISH BLUE TONING. JUST A SINGLE MS67 COIN GRADED HIGHER.
$12,650.00

1857 SILVER 3CS PR65

GEM PROOF. ONLY 75 STRUCK.
$12,650.00

1858 SILVER 3CS PR66

GEM PROOF. ONLY 300 STRUCK. JUST 5 GRADED HIGHER AT PCGS.
$13,200.00

1858 SILVER 3CS PR67

GEM PROOF. ONLY 300 STRUCK. ONLY 1 COIN GRADED HIGHER.
$19,750.00

1860 SILVER 3CS PR65 Cameo

GEM CAMEO. ONLY 1,000 STRUCK. JUST A SINGLE PR65+CAM GRADED HIGHER AT PCGS.
$8,500.00

1868 SILVER 3CS MS65

GEM LUSTROUS SURFACES WITH LIGHT IRIDESCENT PATINA. ONLY 3,500 STRUCK.
$22,000.00

1872 SILVER 3CS MS67+

GEM LUSTROUS SURFACES ENHANCED WITH SEA GREEN AND LIGHT AMBER PATINA. ONLY 1,000 STRUCK. TIED WITH ONE OTHER COIN FOR SECOND HIGHEST GRADED. CAC.
$55,000.00