Most Unusual US Coin Denominations
What are the most unusual US coin denominations?
I just ran across this pattern for a "1 bit" (1/8 of a dollar) coin or a "half quarter" coin.
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Plot twist that’s not a USA coin. At that time hawaiii wasn’t part of the usa
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@Panda4456 said:
Plot twist that’s not a USA coin. At that time hawaiii wasn’t part of the usaAnother plot twist is that was struck by the US Mint and the reason this denomination wasn't included in the final set was that there was a desire to have the denominations match US coins. So while not part of the US yet, perhaps some were already thinking of it.
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oh ya, the lovely hapawalu.
j/k, never seen one but thanks to you today i have and it is a gem!
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@LanceNewmanOCC said:
oh ya, the lovely hapawalu.j/k, never seen one but thanks to you today i have and it is a gem!
I love the "EIGHTH DOL" on the bottom of the reverse!
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I always thought the US $2 1/2 gold coin had an unusual denomination.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire13 -
@PerryHall said:
I always thought the US $2 1/2 gold coin had an unusual denomination.But $3 is cool?
Who was the dude in 18whatever that thought that anything money related that started with a 3 would acceptable?
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The color on that coin is just outstanding!
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@koynekwest said:
The color on that coin is just outstanding!Agree 100%. This one looks gorgeous
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1868 $5 Dual Denomination $5-25 Franc - Judd-656 Gilt, Pollock-729, Low R.7 - PCGS PR64 POP 1/0 - Ex. Bob Simpson
Here's a 25 Franc coin when the US was taking cues from France. Okay it's 5 Dollars, but it's also 25 Frence Francs!
It's neat to think about a time when France was the leader of the free world.
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@KindaNewish said:
@PerryHall said:
I always thought the US $2 1/2 gold coin had an unusual denomination.But $3 is cool?
Who was the dude in 18whatever that thought that anything money related that started with a 3 would acceptable?
The mind spins...
https://www.theonion.com/u-s-mint-introduces-new-seven-cent-coin-to-bolster-cit-18451084682 -
@planetsteve said:
@KindaNewish said:
@PerryHall said:
I always thought the US $2 1/2 gold coin had an unusual denomination.But $3 is cool?
Who was the dude in 18whatever that thought that anything money related that started with a 3 would acceptable?
The mind spins...
https://www.theonion.com/u-s-mint-introduces-new-seven-cent-coin-to-bolster-cit-1845108468
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@planetsteve said:
@KindaNewish said:
@PerryHall said:
I always thought the US $2 1/2 gold coin had an unusual denomination.But $3 is cool?
Who was the dude in 18whatever that thought that anything money related that started with a 3 would acceptable?
The mind spins...
https://www.theonion.com/u-s-mint-introduces-new-seven-cent-coin-to-bolster-cit-1845108468Somebody who had seen a British Three Pence?
Professional Numismatist, Retired. 55 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner of the PNG's 2026 Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.0 -
The 3c and $3 denominations are white elephants with respect to the assorted denominations the US has produced. No denomination other than $3 is an even multiple of 3c. All other minor denominations evenly divide $1. Even seemingly odd British denominations like 3 halfpence or 1/3 farthing could be combined to make larger denominations.
John
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution1 -
@messydesk said:
The 3c and $3 denominations are white elephants with respect to the assorted denominations the US has produced. No denomination other than $3 is an even multiple of 3c. All other minor denominations evenly divide $1. Even seemingly odd British denominations like 3 halfpence or 1/3 farthing could be combined to make larger denominations.There are 15¢ fractional currency issues.
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@planetsteve .... Love the Onion... great satire and humor there. @Zoins...Thanks for the 'eighth dollar' coin...That is the first I have seen that denomination. Cheers, RickO
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@messydesk said:
The 3c and $3 denominations are white elephants with respect to the assorted denominations the US has produced. No denomination other than $3 is an even multiple of 3c. All other minor denominations evenly divide $1. Even seemingly odd British denominations like 3 halfpence or 1/3 farthing could be combined to make larger denominations.Reminds me of several scrip issuers during the Civil War who only issued 3 cent notes with the redemption clause that they must be redeemed in "sums of even dollars", meaning that one would have to accumulate 100 of them to redeem them.
Most unusual denomination that I recall for scrip was a 44 cent note from Michigan from the 1830s. However there are lots more unusual denominations in currency including bank issued $1.25, $1.50, $1.75, $3, $4, $6, $7, $8, $9, $11, $12, $13, $14, $15, $25, $30, etc. etc. etc.
Collector and dealer in obsolete currency. Always buying all obsolete bank notes and scrip.0 -
Somewhat redundant, but not unusual denominations per se, but in 1879 there were $1, $2.50, $3.00, $4.00, and $5.00 gold coins minted. Yes, the Red Book calls the Stellas patterns, but they're listed between the $3 and $5 gold, not in the separate "Significant US Patterns" section.
Successful BST (me as buyer) with: Collectorcoins, PipestonePete, JasonRiffeRareCoins
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@FredF said:
Somewhat redundant, but not unusual denominations per se, but in 1879 there were $1, $2.50, $3.00, $4.00, and $5.00 gold coins minted. Yes, the Red Book calls the Stellas patterns, but they're listed between the $3 and $5 gold, not in the separate "Significant US Patterns" section.We had 2 cent, 20 cent and $20 coins. I wonder why we didn't have $2 coins!
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I remember reading somewhere that the $3 denomination was thought to be used for the purpose of purchasing stamps, which came in sheets of 100 stamps priced at 3 cents per stamp. This meant one $3 gold piece could be used to directly purchase a sheet of stamps.
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@DNADave said:
This one is pretty unusual! I wonder what the reason was for this denomination?
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I think that’s a casino token. I’ve also seen them in $3.50 and other odd denominations. Crappy reverse pic.
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Big time cheating---not coins obviously, but I couldn't resist these because of the denominations. There is a $1.50 I still need for the DC set.
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@stownsin said:
I remember reading somewhere that the $3 denomination was thought to be used for the purpose of purchasing stamps, which came in sheets of 100 stamps priced at 3 cents per stamp. This meant one $3 gold piece could be used to directly purchase a sheet of stamps.I think your confusing the 3 cent coins with the $3 bill. The 3 cent coin was 1st class postage. Almost no one bought 100 stamp sheets in the 19th century. $3 was a lot of money.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
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@PerryHall said:
I always thought the US $2 1/2 gold coin had an unusual denomination.If you think about it, there was the quarter of a dollar in the Coinage Act of 1792, and then there was the eagle ($10 gold) and the quarter eagle.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?0 -
@stownsin said:
I remember reading somewhere that the $3 denomination was thought to be used for the purpose of purchasing stamps, which came in sheets of 100 stamps priced at 3 cents per stamp. This meant one $3 gold piece could be used to directly purchase a sheet of stamps.According master numismatic author, Roger Burdette, the thought was that the $3 coin would be of aid in making change within the gold coin denominations rather than making it easier to buy stamps. My theory is that it was a product of the gold lobby, similar to the legislation that authorized the Twenty Cent Piece.
The $3 bill was not unusual amount the privately issued bank notes of the period. At one point there was a space provided for a $3 bill in the design of a Federally issued note, but it was never issued.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?2 -
Call me a purist, but I don't consider patterns in the "unusual denomination" category. They were never struck to circulate.
USAF (Ret) The purpose of Bourbon is to make you feel like you should feel WITHOUT Bourbon. Remembering RickO, a brother in arms.
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@Lazybones said:
Call me a purist, but I don't consider patterns in the "unusual denomination" category. They were never struck to circulate.I think the the effort was to create a circulating coin, even if it didn’t make it all the way through the process. It’s not as if people were creating random stuff on a whim.
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The three cent was close enough in value to the Spanish-American 1/4 Real (technically 3-1/8th cents) to be interchangeable.
The $3 gold might have been marginally useful in paying off gold depositors upon settlement. When you deposited raw gold your settlement amount after refining was likely to be some odd amount. When you got paid off in gold, unless you had specified a certain denomination you received $10's and/or $20's (depending on the year) and maybe one $5 and maybe a $2-1/2 and maybe a gold dollar or two and the rest in silver and copper. This is no doubt why San Francisco struck small quantities of $2-1/2's and $5's in 1854, along with a larger number of gold dollars.
By having a wider variety of denominations in the Mint's cash payout till it might have been easier to pay out as much of the odd amounts in gold as possible, though if I had been in charge I would not have had a problem with paying out three $1 gold pieces in lieu of one $3 gold piece.
Professional Numismatist, Retired. 55 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner of the PNG's 2026 Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.1 -
Never noticed it before, but the 1854 $3 is the only gold denomination not minted in San Francisco that year.
Anyone have info on why none were issued?
There were both D and O mints issued in 1854, the only year in the series that had two branch mints. The first S mint was started the next year in 1855.
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Some issues did get worn out. Here is an 1857-S:
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"To Be Esteemed Be Useful" - 1792 Birch Cent --- "I personally think we developed language because of our deep need to complain." - Lily Tomlin
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Do we know the reason why the $3 gold was created?
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The SF mint opened in 1854, and they may have decided to skip the $3 denomination.
Professional Numismatist, Retired. 55 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner of the PNG's 2026 Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.0 -
I think 3 cent nickels are weird. They are a neat peace of history though
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I am not confused @jmlanzaf
According to Breen, Congress believed the new coin (the 3 dollar piece) "would be convenient for exchange for rolls or small bags of silver 3¢ pieces, and for buying sheets of 3¢ stamps—always bypassing use of copper cents".[3] In 1889, then-Mint Director James P. Kimball wrote that "it is supposed that the three-dollar piece was designed to be a multiple of the three-cent piece, for the convenience of postal transactions".[7]
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Harry X Boosel for many years promoted the adoption of a 2.5c piece. Nothing came of it.
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Here's a gold fantasy coin to go with the original in the OP for comparison. It is said that the gold piece was struck from dies created from the original hubs.
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@Zoins said:
Here's a gold fantasy coin to go with the original in the OP for comparison. It is said that the gold piece was struck from the original hubs.I think you mean original dies.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire0 -
@PerryHall said:
@Zoins said:
Here's a gold fantasy coin to go with the original in the OP for comparison. It is said that the gold piece was struck from the original hubs.I think you mean original dies.
I was unclear. The original hubs were used to create new dies.
I corrected it above
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@Zoins said:
@PerryHall said:
@Zoins said:
Here's a gold fantasy coin to go with the original in the OP for comparison. It is said that the gold piece was struck from the original hubs.I think you mean original dies.
I was unclear. The original hubs were used to create new dies.
That makes more sense. Any idea why they didn't use the original dies?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire0 -
@PerryHall said:
@Zoins said:
@PerryHall said:
@Zoins said:
Here's a gold fantasy coin to go with the original in the OP for comparison. It is said that the gold piece was struck from the original hubs.I think you mean original dies.
I was unclear. The original hubs were used to create new dies.
That makes more sense. Any idea why they didn't use the original dies?
I’m not sure but I’d guess the dies were not available.
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@SaorAlba said:
I tried to spend one of these once at a post office about 40 years ago. Was in a small town near Rocky Mountain National Park and wanted to mail some post cards. Went into this hole in the wall P.O. and asked the young lady behind the counter what the post card rate was. She said 13 cents. I said OK, give me five 13 cent stamps please. She got them out and said "That'll be 65 cents, please." I handed her two quarters and one of these. She panicked and said "You'll have to wait until the Postmaster comes back from lunch to OK this!" I just took it back and gave her a dime and a nickel.
Professional Numismatist, Retired. 55 year member ANA. Former ANA Senior Authenticator. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and ANA Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner of the PNG's 2026 Robert Friedberg Award for "The Enigmatic Lincoln Cents of 1922," Available now from Whitman or Amazon.2 -
mikebyers.com Dealer in Major Mint Errors, Die Trials & Patterns - Author of NLG Best World Coin Book World's Greatest Mint Errors - Publisher & Editor of minterrornews.com.4
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Very cool @SaorAlba and @CaptHenway! Odd denomination notes are a very interesting area of material and study
I'm a big fan but haven't had time to dive in more just yet, but I do love the eye candy!
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Wow! That coin is insane Mike!
When I looked at the insert, I was wondering why is Mike posting a Cent on a Half Dime in this thread, but that coin is magnificent!
The 1859 Indian Head Half Dime!
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Continental currency had some interesting denominations.
Q: When does a collector become a numismatist?
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.2 -
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@ChangeInHistory said:
Probably need those notes to be reissued since Dollar Tree is hiking prices by 25% - there will be no more "everything 1 dollar" since it is going to be $1.25
https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/30/business/dollar-tree-prices/index.html
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