Silver Three Cent Piece, Type 1 (1851-1853

The Silver Three Cent Piece had three different varieties made from 1851 to 1873. This article is about Type 1 (1851-1853).

Designer: James B. Longacre

Composition: .750 Silver, .250 Copper

History
The Silver Three Cent was the smallest in weight and thickness to ever be made by the US. In 1851, there were barely any silver coins in circulation. This proved to be a problem to merchants and customers. The federal officers reduced the price of postal rates from 5 cents to 3 cents to make these coins more effective.

The Mint had to think of many problems they could run into with the public and the Silver 3 Cent piece. The public could hoard it if it had 90% Silver and 10% Copper. Also the public wanted the amount of the base-metal to be equal with the face value (the opposite being called Fiat money). They needed to make it enough to not be thought as Fiat money, but not to much to hoard. The act of the coin having 75% Silver and 25% Copper was authorized on March 3, 1851.

James Longacre held the task of designing this coin. Problems arose with the size. He needed to find something that had a good look, even far away.

At first, this denomination was circulating and was being used for postal rates. The small size made the coin able to fit in between people's change and getting lost. They tended to get dirty and tone easily.

The only branch-mint issue of Type 1 was in 1851 and in New Orleans. There was a pretty big amount made in just the 3 years, in all 36,230,900.

Year-By-Year Guide
1851-5,447,400

1851-O-720,000

1852-18,663,500

1853-11,400,000

Resources
PCGS Photograde (Images)

Coin Community (Information)