Posted 14 years ago
Scorch05
(1 item)
I recently found my Great Grandmothers coin collection. I know nothing about old coins, except that I guess I should have been saving them. Is this a 3 cent coin? Thank you for any help you can give.
What coin is this? | ||
| Three Cent Pieces9 of 9 |  |  |
Very nice! What you have is a nickel 3 cent coin from the first year of issue (1865). It was a replacement of the silver 3 cent coin as the silver coin tended to be hoarded by the public during the Civil War.
Unfortunately it's not very rare as over 11 million were produced. Well circulated examples like yours tend to be worth about $20.
But rarity aside, it's a very cool coin and a pretty neat piece of Civil War history.
Depending on when your great-grandmother was born, she may have actually got this in change. They would have circulated up to and possibly into the early 20th century since they were produced up through 1889.
The III is what I couldn't figure out. I might be back with some more mysteries.
I've got a cigar box full of coins from all over the world. Even the cigar box is old, it's wood.
Thanks for your knowledge.
Very nice coin,and with it some history. The cigar box that your coins are in could be worth collecting too ! Maybe you could include a picture of it in your next show & tell. Thanks!