Collecting Nickel Three-Cent Pieces
ARE YOU IN THE MARKET for a new collecting adventure? A series that’s brief and inexpensive, particularly relative to more popular coins with much higher mintages? If so, take a look at one of the short-lived 19th century series, the nickel 3-cent piece.
As Ron Guth and Jeff Garrett pointed out in United States Coinage: A Study by Type, the term “nickel” to describe the silver-less 3-cent pieces minted from 1865-1889 is really a misnomer, as the metallic composition was 75 percent copper and only 25 percent nickel. Of course, the same could be said for all 5-cent pieces other than War nickels beginning with the Shield nickel. That is, they’re copper nickels, not nickels.
The fact that the nickel 3-cent piece series began in 1865 is important for why they were issued. By the final year of the Civil War, coins in circulation had disappeared, particularly the gold and silver coins. Even the lowly silver 3-cent piece was subjected to this hoarding by the populace.
At the time, a monetary unit with 3-cent denomination was considered quite useful, as it was used to purchase a first-class stamp. Because of the coin hoarding, various substitutes were introduced to serve as alternatives
