Starting A 3 Cent Silver Set

According to PCGS, a complete set in XF45 or AU58 condition would cost you $14K or $22K, respectively.

A few thoughts:
It's a supply versus demand game. What you need is to increase the supply. Places like ebay lack sufficient supply. Hit the larger coin shows, work the bourse, and haggle. There is an adequate supply of the coins on bourse floors. They just don't appear in enough quantity online to create a market.
If you are committed to EF and higher, you will face a tough task. There are eye appealing F/VF examples that are respectable collector coins. On key dates, the price swing is huge.
Be patient. Avoid "gotta have it" syndrome.
Buy the book before you go hunting. The Flynn and Zack book is indispensable. Read it. Study it. Absorb it. Silver trimes are a risky set, and knowledge is essential.
Take the time to study the strike quality of each year and mint. Pick a date and mint, and eyeball every coin of that date and mint in a show. You will start to see patterns and the quirks that separate decent coins from great coins. When you see a great coin and the price is right, act.

Thanks for the tips on the Flynn and Zack book (it's sold out everywhere - if anyone has a lead on one it would be much appreciated) and avoiding PL surfaces on post 1862 circulation strikes. This is the kind of info I'm looking for. I'm finding the coins from 1851-1862 are pretty easy to acquire. The others not so much.

Do you know Gary Rosner? If not PM and I will turn you on to him. The 2 & 3 cent coins are his specialty and he's a fair and honest dealer.

The Flynn/Zack "The Authoritative Reference on Three Cent Silver Coins" is really the only one out on the 3 cent silver coinage worth using. Kevin is a member here though he hasn't participated in a long time IIRC. He is member "KevinJ" but hasn't been around here at CCF since 2016, his email link might still work.

The book has been pretty hard to find for quite awhile now and it's only been out since 2011, they must not have printed many copies. Kyle Vick was the publisher & printer out of Roswell, Georgia, he used to work with J.T. Stanton when he was alive, Kyle might be another resource to finding a copy. Other than all the usual suspects to try like Charles Davis and David Fanning and putting in want lists with them and a saved search on ebay with email notification, checking in with Abe Books and Amazon regularly. You will probably have the best luck with ebay saved search. I've found a lot of out of print things that way and on the cheap from people listing them not knowing what they have.

Getting to those later civil war dates is going to be the toughest part, just finding nice examples even. A worthy set however and a challenge. Enjoy and good luck on your quest.

Nevermind - I did a websearch and tracked him down. Thanks!

Those later dates are sure tough to find well struck and reasonably priced for sure.

Nicer/top end and original coins are always more than Greysheet bid, in almost any series always.

Glad you like the book! It's really the only 3C silver reference around. There are a couple of choices for the 3C nickels and the 2C coins.

ElmerFlick,

Glad I could help in a little way, Gary is a great resource I use him often in acquiring Two Cent Pieces for my own die pair collection.

I suppose a hearty celebration is in order.