1851 Proof 3 Cent Silver Certified By PCGS PR-63

PCGS - With a mintage of four examples the 1851 Proof Three Cent Silver is an American numismatic rarity. It has been written that these mere four coins were struck with the passage of the authorization of the Act of March 3, 1851, which authorized the United States Mint to produce silver Three Cent coinage. The 1851 Proof Three Cent Silver became not only a rarity within its series but also in the context of all United States coinage.


1851 Proof 3 Cent Silver, Garrett-Maris Example, PCGS PR63

The desire for the United States to produce a three-cent coin came with the Spanish and Spanish colonial silver redemption by the government proving to be unprofitable due to the discrepancies in silver, weight, and denominations of that nation's coinage. With Three Cent Silver coins being struck in .750-fine silver rather than the .900-fine standard of higher-denominated coinage, legislation introduced by New York Senator Daniel S. Dickinson made striking Three Cent coins profitable for the United States Mint; they cost two-and-a-half cents per coin to produce, with the difference in silver value compensating for the slick Spanish coins being underweight. While this legislation didn't pass in 1850, postage rates being reduced from five cents to Three Cents allowed for Dickinson's proposal for the Three Cent coins to be legal tender up to 30 cents; the bill eventually passed both houses and was signed into law by President Millard Fillmore.

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