Silver Three-Cent Pieces Type 2 1854-1858 Coin Guide
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Silver Three-Cent Pieces Type 2 1854-1858
As it would throughout history, once again gold ruled events. It was
gold that brought men west in 1849, gold that created havoc with
circulating coinage and ultimately gold that was responsible for one of
the Mint's most unusual products, the tiny silver three-cent piece.
The late 1850s was an era when Spanish one-half, one-, two-, four- and
eight-reales circulated right alongside United States issues. By the end
of the decade, however, discoveries of gold fields in California and
Australia drove down the world market price of the metal to a point where
gold became cheaper in terms of silver, eventually causing the bullion
value of many silver coins to exceed their face value.
With the increase in silver's price, vast quantities of coins were
melted for export to Europe. By 1850, silver coins were disappearing
everywhere. Stores, hotels and railroads began to pay premiums for coins.
Commercial life was chaotic.
The U.S. public and commercial establishments tried to adapt to the
rising silver price. Since the degree of wear determined the weight of
silver in a coin, the public evaluated their coins, spending the worn ones
and hoarding high grade ones. Banks and post offices discounted the
Spanish coins by allowing only 23 cents for a two-reales piece (nominally
25 cents), 10c for one real (12 ½ cents) and 5 cents for a half real or
medio (6 ¼ cents). The U.S. Government, however, ignored the fact that
the coins were worn and paid the full value to keep commerce as stable as
possible.
On January 9, 1849 the Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means,
Samuel F. Vinton, wrote a letter to Mint Director Robert M. Patterson
requesting proposals for a new cent of reduced size and a three-cent piece
"to be made of copper and some other precious metal." A year
later, Senator Daniel Dickinson, the head of a committee preparing a bill
to reduce postal rates, introduced a bill proposing these two coins as a
way of buying the new postage stamps and making change. The proposed coins
consisted of a cent composed of .100 fine silver and three-cent coin of
.750 silver.
Congress did nothing with this proposal until 1851. In that year, it
passed the postal rate bill reducing the cost of mailing a letter from
five cents to three cents. Since the copper coins in circulation were not
legal tender and "shinplasters" (private bank notes and
merchants' scrip) weren't acceptable as payment for postage, how would the
public pay for the stamps? Though the reduced size cent wasn't approved,
the Dickinson three-cent coin was reconsidered and finally authorized by
the act of March 3, 1851. It was to weigh 12-3/8 grains and be .750 silver
and .250 copper. Since the face value exceeded the bullion value, the coin
was sure to stay in circulation.
This first three-cent piece, known as Type 1, was designed by Chief
Engraver James B. Longacre. The design consists of a six-pointed star at
the center, upon which is the Union shield. The inscription UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA and the date are around the border. The reverse depicts
thirteen stars surrounding a C-shaped device within which is a Roman
numeral III.
Congress hoped that this coin would help sell postage stamps and
alleviate the coin shortage. Although critics called the coin
"debased," the public initially loved it. The government loved
it also, since a dollar's worth of three-cent pieces was worth only 86
cents in gold. The need for small change was so great that people were
impatient for the coin's release. To avoid a panic, more than 100,000
pieces were manufactured before the mint began to release them. In less
than two years, there were 20 million more in circulation.
Though inconvenient, change was now available. If you offered a gold
dollar for a 5c or 10c article you were likely to get some very worn one
and half reales and a handful of three-cent coins. These thin, little,
insignificant looking coins, called "fish scales" by the public
and joked about in the press, became the savior of American commerce. As
time passed, however, the public became disenchanted with the little
coins, as they were easily lost.
In 1853, the silver problem was resolved by officially lowering the
weight of silver coins to compensate for the rise in that metal's price.
The "Deficiency Act" of March 3, 1853 authorized the second
version of the three-cent piece making it a .900 fine silver coin like the
other subsidiary coinage.
Longacre modified the star on the obverse with the addition of three
outlines, and the reverse was changed to show a bunch of arrows below and
an olive branch above the Roman numeral III. These changes were supposed
to correct the striking problems that plagued the original design and to
identify the change in weight and fineness. These first Type 2 pieces,
dated 1854, were released on May 22.
Changes in the design created additional problems, and the coin was
even more difficult to produce than the earlier version. As a result, it
is hard to find well-struck examples. The weakest area is usually toward
the borders of the coin. This makes grading more difficult since the
surface condition must be carefully considered to detect the difference
between strike and wear. Due to improper die preparation, it is also
common to see fine, parallel field striations on high grade specimens.
Though not difficult to find in circulated grades, gem business strikes of
this type are very rare, much rarer than gem Type 1 or 3 coins.
Less than five million Type 2 three-cent pieces were made, and all were
manufactured in Philadelphia.The rarest of the five dates is the low
mintage 1855. Although some collectors assemble complete sets of the
series, most of the demand for Type IIs, as with the earlier and later
versions, comes from type collectors. The three different types are truly
history lessons in miniature. Proof mintages are unknown, but probably
less than 300 proofs survive today of the Type 2.
In 1859, seeking a solution to the striking problems, Longacre again
modified the design. He removed one of the outlines to the star, and the
resulting Type 3 coin was issued from 1859 through the end of the series
in 1873.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Diameter: 14 millimeters Weight: .75 grams Composition: .900 silver,
.100 copper Edge: Plain Net Weight: .0217 ounce pure silver
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bowers, Q. David, United States Coins by
Design Types, Bowers and Merena Galleries, Wolfeboro, NH, 1986. Breen,
Walter, Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins,
F.C.I./Doubleday, New York, 1988. Yeoman, R. S., A Guidebook of United
States Coins, 47th Edition, Western Publishing Co., Racine, WI, 1993.
Judd, J. Hewitt M.D., United States Pattern, Experimental and Trial
Pieces, 7th Edition, Western Publishing Co., Racine, WI, 1982.
Coin Information Provided Courtesy NGC.
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