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United States Three Cent Coin

A three cent coin was produced by the
(click to enlarge)
1858 Silver
Three Cent Piece

____________________
1858 Silver Three Cent Coin
United States Mint from 1851 to 1889. Two different three cent pieces were made during this time span: The three cent silver (1851-1873) and the three cent nickel (1865-1889).

These unusual coins were first introduced to try to put some coins back into circulation as silver coins were being hoarded because they were worth more for the silver content than their face value. This caused a shortage of coins needed for day to day purchases.

Government officials decided to introduce a coin that would be considered valuable to people but not valuable enough that they would hoard them or melt them down.

So, the three cent silver, made of 75% silver, was produced to try to get more coins into circulation.

The silver three cent piece was a very small coin.

In fact, it is the smallest US silver coin ever made. It's silver color, along with it smallness of size earned it the nickname "fishscales".

At about the same time, postage rates were lowered from five cents to three cents so it was decided that a three cent coin would be a good choice.

Note: The Coinage Act of 1964 gave the cent and nickel full Legal Tender status.

Since one cent coins were not considered legal tenderLegal Tender
Coins or currency which, by law, must be accepted as payment of a debt.
during this time, they were not accepted for postage purchases.

At the same time, people did not want to let go of their silver coins to purchase postage because they knew they would probably get copper one cent coins as change, so the three cent silver coin was welcomed.

This three cent silver coin was made until 1873, and was also referred to as a trime.




Silver Three Cent Coin - Type 1



(click image for larger view)
1851 Three Cent Silver Type 1
1851 Three Cent Silver Type 1
Type Three Cent Silver - Type 1
Designer James B. Longacre
Years Minted 1851-1853
Weight .80 grams
Composition 75% silver, 25% copper
Diameter 14 mm
Edge plain
Mints Philadelphia - no mint mark
New Orleans - O
Mintage
Year
1851
1852
1853
Philadelphia
5,447,400
18,663,500
11,400,000
New Orleans-O
720,000
0
0


Silver Three Cent Coin - Type 2



(click image for larger view)
1858 Three Cent Silver Type 2
1858 Three Cent Silver Type 2
Type Three Cent Silver - Type 2
Designer James B. Longacre
Years Minted 1854-1858
Weight .75 grams
Composition 90% silver, 10% copper
Diameter 14 mm
Edge plain
Mints Philadelphia - no mint mark
Mintage 1854 - 671,000
1855 - 139,000
1856 - 1,458,000
1857 - 1,042,000
1858 - 1,603,700


Silver Three Cent Coin - Type 3



(click image for larger view)
1861 Three Cent Silver Type 3
1861 Three Cent Silver Type 3
Type Three Cent Silver - Type 3
Designer James B. Longacre
Years Minted 1859-1873
Weight .75 grams
Composition 90% silver, 10% copper
Diameter 14 mm
Edge plain
Mints Philadelphia - no mint mark
Mintage 1859- 364,200
1860 - 286,000
1861 - 497,000
1862 - 343,000
1863 - 21,000
1864 - 12,000
1865 - 8,000
1866 - 22,000
1867 - 4,000
1868 - 3,500
1869 - 4,500
1870 - 3,000
1871 - 3,400
1872 - 1,000
1873 - proofs only





Nickel Three Cent Coin

A three cent nickel coin was introduced in 1865. It was produced by the Philadelphia Mint until 1889. It was a little larger than the trime and was made of a copper-nickel (75% cooper and 25% nickel) alloy. It was about the size of a modern dime and was called the Three Cent Nickel.

(click image for larger view)
1873 Three Cent Nickel
1873 Three Cent Nickel
Type Three Cent Nickel
Designer James B. Longacre
Years Minted 1865-1889
Weight 1.94 grams
Composition 75% copper, 25% nickel
Diameter 17.9 mm
Edge plain
Mints Philadelphia - no mint mark
Mintage 1865 - 11,382,000
1866 - 4,801,000
1867 - 3,915,000
1868 - 3,252,000
1869 - 1,604,000
1870 - 1,335,000
1871 - 604,000
1872 - 862,000
1873, Close 3 - 390,000
1873, Open 3 - 783,000
1874 - 790,000
1875 - 228,000
1876 - 162,000
1877 - proofs only
1878 - proofs only
1879 - 38,000
1880 - 21,000
1881 - 1,077,000
1882 - 22,200
1883 - 4,000
1884 - 1,700
1885 - 1,000
1886 - proofs only
1887 - 5,001
1888 - 36,501
1889 - 18,125


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