3 cent nickel question

Chazpear

Are there any good 3 cent nickel resources out there. I hit a few of the obvious ones, atleast that I know of, but pickens are sort of slim.

Looking for higher grades

Thanks

WACoinGuy

I've been considering collecting this series -- I'd be interested in even knowing "the obvious ones."

dorkkarl

start here

Chazpear

Here are a few of the places I looked.

The Coin Shop

DLRC

All the Coins

Heritage Auctions

NumisMedia

Prethen

I just wanted to say congratulations on picking one of the least-loved series of all U.S. coins to collect! Yes, I collect that series as well and the resources are few and far between on those good ol' nickels. The link noted above is a fabulous link if you're interested in the idiosyncracies of figuring out if a 3CN is a business strike or proof. Actually, I really like that link because I've had that question myself and spoke with JP Martin (now at ICG) at some length specifically about how he identifies 1884 and 1885 3CN business strikes. I don't own either in a business strike. JP noted that even in the PCGS/NGC holder, if it says MS, it could be wrong.

As far as the series as a whole (when talking about business strikes), most of the coins are relatively easy to get and at bargain basement prices. Perhaps the only exceptions being 1883-1887. One of my favorite coins in the series is the 1889 business strike as it's at least 30 times scarcer than a 1909S-VDB but costs 1/10th the price!

I started getting into the business strikes after I found myself accumulating the proofs, of which I have 15 out of the 26 in the series.

Breen has some information about the series in both his Encyclopedia of Colonial and U.S. Coins and his Enclpedia of Proof Coins, 1722-1977 (or 1989). Recently, I've seen articles printed in the national coin magazines like Numismatic News on this series and the 3CS series.

I've heard people don't care for the series for a couple of main reasons. One, there's no major varieties to collect; the series is boring with no changes (except for the open/closed 1873). Two, it's an obsolete coin that no one today can identify with, so who cares?

Grading these little guys can be interesting. Since I've concentrated in the area of XF+, I've gotten pretty good at telling the difference between a VF, XF, and various AU gradations. You'll have to see a bunch though to get the hang of it. One thing to keep in mind, is that in the upper circulated grades, the cheek will pretty much tell you the grade. The grading books can be wrong especially when it comes to the reverse and the lines in the "III". Like I said, you'll have to see a bunch to see what I mean.

I recently purchased an 1865 3CN that a dealer had listed as Fine. It has some die breakage (a cud) and heavy die clashing, but I didn't notice really any wear. I have to bring the coin out to examine it again, but I think it's an easy XF/AU+ shot.

By the way, if you think grading 3CN's is tough, try grading early 3CS's. I compare grading those little beauties to "reading tea leaves." I still have a bunch to learn in that area.

Welcome to 3CN land! Keep us up-to-date with any neat finds.

WACoinGuy

I bought one that looked nice to me from Heritage in their Bullet sale: link. We'll see what I think when I have it in hand. I know the fact that it's rotated in the holder is going to bug me though!

Chazpear

I'm just finding it difficult to find dealers that carry them. The shops that I usually go to have a couple but they are about good, so hard to distinguish many discerning features. And the ones that are online may have good pictures, but nothing like they look in hand. Just one of those things that is going to take time. Doesn’t always suit me need for immediate gratification.

Mustang5L5

Glad to see i'm not the only one that likes 3 cent nickels.

rdunnit

I like the 3 cent nickel as well. There are a lot of lower mintage coins that go for cheap in MS63+ in comparison to similar mintages of other series of coins.

Even VF-XF coins look nice. The greysheet has been ever increasing the past year.

Robert

Sequitur

Search the forums, there are some posts on the series. I usually collect gold and high-grade business strikes, but after seeing a nice cameo proof at a local dealer, I started acquiring some nice proofs. I think they're cool coins, and I'm starting to see the same bidders pop up for the nice coins.