Photos used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries - Copy By Douglas Winter Numismatics

Description:The origin of this issue is shrouded in controversy. It is generally believed that the Three Dollar gold piece was adopted as a direct result of the postal rate dropping from five cents to three cents in 1851. A three dollar gold issue allowed purchasers to buy large quantities of the new stamps without having to use the then-unpopular copper Large Cents or the new, tiny silver Three Cent pieces.

The Mint Act of February 21, 1853 authorized production of the three-dollar gold coin

The Three dollar gold piece was designed by James Longacre. The obverse features an “Indian Princess” modeled after the Greco-Roman Venus Accroupie statue then in a Philadelphia museum. Liberty is wearing a feathered headdress of equal-sized plumes with a band bearing LIBERTY in raised letters. She’s surrounded by the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Such a headdress dates back to the earliest known drawings of American Indians by French artist Jacques le Moyne du Morgue’s sketches of the Florida Timucua tribe who lived near the tragic French colony of Fort Caroline in 1562. It was accepted by engravers and medalists of the day as the design shorthand for “America.”

The reverse depicted a wreath of tobacco, wheat, corn and cotton with a plant at top bearing two conical seed masses. The original wax models of this wreath still exist on brass discs in a Midwestern collection. (more…)

Photos used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries

Description:
The three cent coin has an unusual history. It was proposed in 1851 both as a result of the decrease in postage rates from five cents to three and to answer the need for a small-denomination, easy-to-handle coin. The first Three cent coins we composed of silver (made up of three distinct types) however as a result of the Civil War, a new US Type coins would be created.

In times of crisis, the supply of precious metals would inevitably tighten. Americans fearful of the intrinsic value of paper money would then begin hording coins. And no American crisis drove coins out of circulation like the Civil War.

These Civil War era silver shortages led to widespread hoarding of all silver coins including the Three Cent Silver, and most one and five cent coins as well. As a result metal money virtually disappeared. To address the lack of circulating coins various alternatives were tried, including encapsulated postage and privately issued coinage. The Treasury eventually settled on issuing fractional currency. These small denomination (1 to 50 cent) notes were never popular, as they were easy to lose and unwieldy in large amounts. (more…)