Did three cent nickels live a hard life?

291fifth

Nickels of that era lived a very hard life, but was the same true for three cent nickels?

How much did three cent nickels actually circulate between 1865 and 1889?

Did the treasury make an active effort to retire them from circulation in the 1890's?

Just when did they effectively stop circulating?

Anyone know?

GoldenEyeNumismatics

BTW at the time 3 cent nickels were being minted they were referred to as merely "3 cent pieces," and the term "nickel" was still reserved for the copper-nickel IHC of the early 1860s.

fastrudy

Apparently they did

according to this link

cladking

The 1881 was the last date made in circulation quantities. From mintages
and wear on existing pieces it would seem that they were not very popular
in circulation after mid-1870's.

Cam40

They circulated for about 25 years? Thats not a very long time for nickels.
Liberty Nickels however seem to have circulated very heavily.
Maybe it was `save your indians and spend your libbies`

RWB

After the Coinage Act of 1890 removed gold dollars, $3 and 3-cent from the monetary system, the mints and assay offices actively withdrew all they received in payments and bank transfers.

Most of the circulated gold coins were melted and restruck into new coins or cast into 0.999 fine bars for trade. Three cent pieces were melted and the alloy used for five-cent coins. (A few hundred gold $1, mostly 1889, and $3 pieces were saved by the Treasurer and dispensed as political favors over the next 20 years.)

There is a very large ledger in the archives listing obsolete and mutilated coin received by mint/assay office from about 1885 through the 1920s. (It was one of the source documents for an article in Coin World on use of gold dollars.)

sumnom

I picked up a circulated 1879 3CN this weekend in VF (I'm not much of a grader). Only 38,000 were minted that year but some of them certainly did some time in circulation.

DaveG

Here's what Neil Carothers has to say in Fractional Money:

. . . the nickel 3 cent piece was forced into a circulation already over-burdened with 1 and 2 cent pieces. It should never have been authorized. After silver coins came back [in late 1877] it became especially objectionable because of its resemblance to the silver dime. From 1880 onward the Treasury officials made annual appeals to Congress for the abolition of the coin.


It sounds like the 3 cent nickel was more useful before the introduction of the 5 cent nickel, which I suspect was more welcome in everyday commerce.

CaptHenway

It is not unusual to see three cent nickels from the 1860's in well-worn condition, though I don't think I have ever seen an AG-3, and Good-4's are very scarce.

I don't think that I have ever seen an 1881 in less than VF, though they could exist.

I suspect that when the Mint stopped issuing them in 1889, people started hoarding them out of circulation "because they were being recalled!" and would obviously be valuable some day. The 1865's had 25 years worth of wear on them, and it showed. The 1881's had less wear on them.

ambro51

From the amount of Proofs around they had a collector following when they were "moderns"

droopyd

I received one in change in the mid-70s (an 1865 in VF) that was passed off as a dime. No idea how long it may have been in circulation.

sumnom

I would love to see one in circulation.

Elcontador

A friend wanted me to look over some "old coins" of his, and an 1865 three cent nickel in F or VF was in the middle of a roll of late dated Mercs. They are very close to the same diameter of one another.

CaptHenway

<< <i>A friend wanted me to look over some "old coins" of his, and an 1865 three cent nickel in F or VF was in the middle of a roll of late dated Mercs. They are very close to the same diameter of one another. >>



Several times over my coin dealing career I have looked at an inventory prepared by a non-numismatic potential seller and found the "1865 Dime" (or subsequent date) to be a three-cent nickel.

messydesk

<< <i>It is not unusual to see three cent nickels from the 1860's in well-worn condition, though I don't think I have ever seen an AG-3, and Good-4's are very scarce. >>


Sho' 'nuf. Our hosts have only graded 1 in AG3 and 1 in FR2. Shield nickels have 29 in AG3, 8 in FR2, 2 in PO1.

cladking

<< <i>

<< <i>It is not unusual to see three cent nickels from the 1860's in well-worn condition, though I don't think I have ever seen an AG-3, and Good-4's are very scarce. >>


Sho' 'nuf. Our hosts have only graded 1 in AG3 and 1 in FR2. Shield nickels have 29 in AG3, 8 in FR2, 2 in PO1. >>



Shield nickels are typically in highly worn condition. Three cent nickels are not.
It appears they had only about ten years of high velocity circulation and then it
began tapering off. Look at the low difference in value between an 1880 in AU
and one in AG. This is indicative of a coin that circulated lightly and high grade
examples are relatively common.

For the main part heavily worn 3c nickels are the early years and are less common
than higher grades like G and VG.