Strange 1852 three cent piece

vanessa2155

Has anyone ever seen an 1852 three cent piece with a number 3 stamped in the middle of the shield?null

pcgs69

welcome to the forums! Posting pics will help. My guess is someone did it after it was minted, but pics will help determine that.

CaptHenway

I have not. Perhaps it was done by somebody who had a problem telling three cent pieces from half dimes?



A picture would be interesting.

LindeDad

Don't they all have the Roman number 3 on them?

LanceNewmanOCC

Originally posted by: LindeDad

Don't they all have the Roman number 3 on them?

triglyph



never seen a 3 punched into a 3cs. perhaps a pattern does?



most likely n irrelevant counter-stamp. you could check brunks.

.

roadrunner

Could be a variety out there with the rev roman numerals clashed into the obverse, giving the appearance of a "3c."

vanessa2155

I don't know how to attach a pic. Can I email it to someone?

AUandAG

Welcome to the forums! Enjoy your stay.



Vanessa, can you take a pic and then upload that pic to Photobucket (get a free account). Once it is uploaded just copy the IMG code from the box on the right and then just paste that code here on the forum.



bob

vanessa2155

[URL=http://s1378.photobucket.com/u...0_zpscduxy02f.jpg.html][/URL]

vanessa2155

[URL=http://s1378.photobucket.com/u...3_zps4uhnfrdv.jpg.html][/URL]

Walkerguy21D

Neat old counterstamp - thanks for sharing, and welcome aboard the forum!

hchcoin

Very cool coin. Congrats on posting your first picture! Welcome aboard.

vanessa2155

So why would it be stamped that way?

sparky64

Originally posted by: vanessa2155

So why would it be stamped that way?

Hard to say. Have to use your imagination.

Could be any number of reasons.



Pretty cool though and

pcgs69

Could simply be someone was bored back in the day. You'll probably never know why someone did it.

TommyType

Who knows....Could have been a set of 1 through 10 used for marking something? Say, on a map, or calendar....Something work or public services related....



Stamping a few 3 cent coins was probably quicker, (and as cheap?), as creating markers from scratch?







(Using my imagination. I may have hurt myself.)

sellitstore

The point is that this wasn't done in any official capacity by the mint or banks but rather privately on an individual basis.

Counterstamps on coins were often used for advertising purposes but without a name or address, that wasn't the purpose of this counterstamp.

vanessa2155

So instead of it being worth more, it's probably worth little to nothing. Is that correct?

ricko

Welcome aboard vanessa2155, and yes, it is a counterstamped coin and that happened post mint. Now, for series collectors, it has no value, however, some people collect counterstamped coins, and while it would not have any significant premium, it might sell to that limited group.

Cheers, RickO

originalisbest

Yep, as ricko says, it's not worth what an equivalent, un-punched 1852 3c silver in that grade would be worth; but such a coin wouldn't be worth a ton anyway, as it's well-worn. The value would ultimately be up to whatever someone might want to pay for it. I personally would pay $5 for it; I wouldn't be surprised if someone were to pay anywhere from $5-10 on ebay. I would be surprised if it went for any more than that, however. Welcome to the forum, and if US coins interest you, there's a lot of knowledge here, from basic to advanced. Hope you can find something useful and/or interesting out of it.

I will edit to say, the coin actually (before the punch) is in higher grade than I thought when glancing at it -- has good detail -- but yes, the punch does devalue it from what an un-marked example with the same level of detail left would have. Still, an interesting old item, and probably 99% of non-collectors would wonder at a United States silver 3c piece, not knowing they were ever made. From that perspective it's still got at least a few bucks of value.

DorkGirl

CaptHenway

Notice how the reverse is bulged outwards by the punching. The design atop this bulge shows wear, which indicates that the coin circulated after it was punched. This strongly suggests that the punching occurred during the time that trimes circulated.

BillJones

The "3" on that piece would lower the value.

HOWEVER As a twenty cent piece collector I'd love to buy a double dime with a "20" counterstamped on it or some other mark that attempted to distinguish it from a quarter.

ScarsdaleCoin

Here is my 3c's



someone used some trimes as golf markers

(yes they are still popular for that purpose)

and put the numbers on them to differentiate them

golden

Originally posted by: hchcoin
Very cool coin. Congrats on posting your first picture! Welcome aboard.