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 Replies: 51 / Views: 4,460 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
577 Posts |
Hello all! I became fascinated with the Three Cent Nickel a couple of years ago and started a collection with a few circulated pieces. I think one was an 1865 and the other an 1870. It's a very odd denomination of coin when viewed with a modern perspective, but I think that's part of why I was drawn to them. The mintage figures for the series is unique, as the older coins are far more common whereas the mintage trailed off to only 1700 pieces for the 1884 and 1000 pieces for the 1885 business strike. In the past few months I've started a MS set of these coins, and was trying to pick off the more inexpensive dates as I'm only 20 and have a college student's budget for coin purchases. I was trolling a bunch of online dealers and auction websites for the 3CN when I came across an offering for a piece that I probably wasn't going to see again for some time, an 1884. Not only was it an 1884 business strike, but it appeared to be in MS condition. I watched the item for almost a week, drooling over the rarity and condition, as there are only 11 of the date graded MS by NGC. The coin looked legitimate from the pictures, and the seller offered a full money back guarantee. (Keep reading below)   Well, as the days went by, my sense of frustration built that I couldn't afford to have the piece in my collection. So, as a collector blinded by the appeal of a potential new purchase, I decided to throw reason to the wind to try and buy it. I won in a bidding war, and will receive the coin next week! Very pleased. Anyways, I would love to know who else on this forum collects 3CN pieces, and if you have any commentary to provide! I'd love to talk about anything, just to get a discussion going about a very under-collected series! |
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Valued Member
United States
397 Posts |
I don't have a collection of them per-se , but I really do love looking at them, along with the 3c silvers.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
642 Posts |
That's an impressive piece!  Hope it's all you hoped for when it arrives. I've completed 60% of my 3 Cent Nickel collection. Unfortunately they are mostly common dates, besides my 1882. Favorite part is observing the varied die cracks that are so common in the series. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
751 Posts |
I've started collecting choice circulated (VF+ to XF) common dates. They're very affordable and I like them for all the same reasons you do.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3755 Posts |
BEAUTIFUL coin. Thats one I would surely get into a bidding war over. Looks to be an MS 62 or 3 from that pic.
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Are you sure it's a Business Strike? That's a $15,000+ coin if it's not a Proof, and any knowledgeable seller will know it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4618 Posts |
Post removed. I don't want to distract from the discussion of the OPs coin.
ANA ID: 3203813 - CONECA ID: N-5637 Clean a coin that may be worth collecting? Please DON'T! When in doubt, leave it dirty!! 
Edited by Yokozuna
08/12/2011 11:13 am
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
That is a proof, not a business strike. The proofs are much more available while the 1884 and 1885 business strikes are exceedingly rare. Even some of the purported circulated business strikes on the market are actually impaired proofs.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
577 Posts |
I thought it may be a proof myself, biokemist, but the seller apparently bought it from a reputable dealer listing at MS price. I thought there was a pretty good chance it was as well because the proof strike usually has a different strike on the features than it does in the fields. What makes you think that it is a proof strike? At least there's a money back guarantee!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3276 Posts |
if it's not a rude question, and if you don't mind answering... may I ask how much you paid?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2335 Posts |
I also believe that's a proof. Great detail & smooth fields combined with the hint of salmon/peach/pink toning on the obverse are what I'm basing it on. I'm not an expert on these so take that with a grain of salt.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3234 Posts |
Everything about that coin screams Proof to me as well, even the fields.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
It can be difficult to tell the proofs and MS pieces apart for these. (Just like with the late Shield nickels, the proofs are typically not well made and the business strike coins all being from brand new dies tend to be prooflike and not show cartwheel luster.) I can't be sure but I would tend to lean toward it being a business strike. I would look at the edges and see if they show a near mirror like surface and do they meet the rims at a sharp square angle? (The proofs since they tend to be poorly made do not always meet the rims squarely, but I think it would be rare for the business strikes to meet squarely.) I also collect the 3 cent pieces and the 1884 is the only one I don't have. Just picked up a nice VF 1887 last year. Edited by Conder101
08/12/2011 10:45 am
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
I'm basing my opinion on common sense, rather than any confirmed diagnostics. Diagnostics must exist which allow TPG's to consider their opinion of Business vs. Proof reliable; in this case, it's very likely that only one die pair was used for all the Business Strikes and if the unique characteristics of that pair were known, a good opinion can be rendered. My point is, there are more 1792 Half Dismes in Mint State slabs than there are 1884 3CN's. It's one of the known great rarities of US coinage, and a previously-unknown Mint State example would be front-page news. Any dealer with the ability to correctly identify one would know this, and would know that it's a coin worthy of offer in a major auction venue. I would be immediately concerned if you paid less than $10,000 for this coin, because the dealer would know it's worth at least that much. Conversely, the NGC Top Pop PR68CAM sold for less than $5000 at Heritage earlier this year. I certainly hope you're correct, madhandles761991, because if you are this is the collecting coup of the year and you're going to be on the cover of all of the coin magazines. Kudos to the seller for offering a money-back guarantee; I hope it extends to grading/authentication by a TPG. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
577 Posts |
Awesome comments everyone, thanks very much for all of the input! I figured I would wait to see the coin in hand, so I can check out anything I need to in-hand. The money back guarantee extends a couple of weeks, and I'll ask the seller if I can get an extension to submit to an authenticator. I read that there was a difference in the denticles from most proof strikes/business strikes, and that's what made me think that this may be a business strike coin. Anyone know more about this?
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Pillar of the Community
2223 Posts |
 Can't wait to hear more and see more pics. |
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Replies: 51 / Views: 4,460 |
Posted 08/11/2011 9:06 pm
