Numismatic News - There are some coins which are hard to describe, or understand, and the 1878 $3 gold piece is one of those coins. There may be theories, but facts explaining exactly why the 1878 $3 is so available are hard to determine.
The $3 gold piece was not a denomination which lent itself to large numbers of coins being available for collectors today. It was, after all, a $3 gold coin, and $3 at that time was a great deal of money for most. Some might have collected
Half Cents but $3 gold coins were just not likely.
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