Two and Three Cent Pieces

Two Cent (1864-1873)

Economic turmoil during the American Civil War caused the public to hoard coins leading them to vanish from circulation. To fill the gap, some entrepreneurs came up with bronze cent-sized private tokens. The use of such emergency pieces didn’t escape the notice of the US Mint. The Shield Two Cents was the Mint’s response to fix the coin shortage problem…READ MORE

 Three Cent Silver (1851-1873)

A couple of circumstances led to the creation of Three Cent Silver in 1851.  First, gold was discovered in Sutter’s Mill in California in 1848. The increased mining of gold affected US coinage as its value depressed compared to silver. As a result, silver coins were hoarded and melted since they were worth more in that state. That, and the fact that fewer people were taking silver to the Mint for transformation into coinage limited the production of silver coins…READ MORE

Three Cent Nickel (1865-1889)

Also known as the copper-nickel-three-cent piece or three-cent nickel piece, the three cent nickels are one of the US coins with a brief part in mintage history. It was only minted for 24 years before it was discontinued.  The good news is 12 of those 24 different dates are considered rare and more valuable which spells good news…READ MORE