The Weekly Vintage Coin
Circulation strikes: 11,400,000
Designer: James Barton Longacre
Diameter: ±14.3 millimeters
Metal content:
Silver - 75%
Copper - 25%
Weight: ±0.8 grams
Edge: Plain
Mintmark: None
Value: $25.00 (G-4) up to $270.00 (MS-63)
Not a particularly good example, this coin was picked up from the junk silver pile of a local dealer as part of the initial attempt at collecting at least one example of each major coin type.
The smallest of the US silver coins, the silver three cent piece, often called a trime,iIts creation was driven by the postage rates of the time. In 1851 the U.S. Congress reduced the postage rated for a one page letter to 3 cents. But there was a problem. There were no widely circulating monies in denominations less than f cents. Copper cent and half cent coins were minted, but these coins were unpopular with the public and circulation was for the most part limited to major eastern cities. This meant the lowest value coin most people had was the five cent coin. The solution was to mint a silver coin exactly matching the postage cost.
Interesting tidbits… The silver three cent 'trime' was the first U.S. coin with a face value that exceeded it's metal value.
Also, the coin was only legal tender for sums up to 30 cents
Saturday, March 29, 2008
1853 Three Cent
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
It was interesting to read that the 3-cent coin was legal tender only up to 30 cents. That makes no sense, and it makes me wonder what they could have been thinking of, with such a restriction on the coin.
To say that your photographed specimen is "not particularly good" is something of an understatement, however it's good enough to illustrate your post.
Thanks for the info.
I contemplated something more along the lines of "this coin looks as though it may have suffered anime style tentacle prison rape at the hands of Cthulhu..." but I thought that might be a bit much so I opted for the understatement instead.
Post a Comment