1881 3 cent nickel

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by buddy16cat, Mar 18, 2026.

  1. buddy16cat

    buddy16cat Well-Known Member

    I don’t know if this pic does it justice
    A4D16CF6-772D-4117-B2F8-E6062DF976C3.jpeg 841AF0A0-5642-493B-99C1-42A9234AF49B.jpeg
     
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  3. buddy16cat

    buddy16cat Well-Known Member

    this pic is no good let me try again.
     
  4. buddy16cat

    buddy16cat Well-Known Member

  5. The Half Dime

    The Half Dime Arrows!

  6. buddy16cat

    buddy16cat Well-Known Member

    I don’t know if you can tell but the III on the reverse has full lines
     
  7. KBBPLL

    KBBPLL Well-Known Member

    Looks to be about the same condition as my 1870, which was sold to me as F in the way back time (I paid $3.75 around 1973...). It's hard to tell what your reverse looks like, but grading emphasizes the obverse in most cases. Try taking images more straight on and then crop them on your phone. That's pretty easy on an iPhone.
    1870_3c.jpg
     
  8. ZoidMeister

    ZoidMeister Hamlet Squire of Tomfoolery . . . . . Supporter

    Many of these can be weakly struck resulting in hair detail that looks like a lot of wear. The vertical lines in the III suffer from weak striking as well.

    The denticles are a good indicator of heavier wear.

    YMMV / JMHO.

    Z
     
  9. ZoidMeister

    ZoidMeister Hamlet Squire of Tomfoolery . . . . . Supporter

  10. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    The 1881 Nickel Three Cent Piece was sort of a "last gasp" for this denomination. The mintage was 1,077,000 which was well over the amount for the all of the other dates in this era. After the mintages were much lower until the coin was discontinued in 1889.

    Here are two examples, first in Mint State and then a Proof.

    1865 3 Cent NI All.jpg

    1882 3 Cent NI ALL.jpg
     
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  11. Collecting Nut

    Collecting Nut Borderline Hoarder

    Try T as king your photos from directly above the coin. Taking them on an angle really makes it difficult to see the features of the coin. Thank you.
     
  12. scottishmoney

    scottishmoney Buh bye

    usa3cent1889.jpg

    Despite the mintages shrinking significantly after 1881, the mint continued to strike miniscule mintages of circulating coins until 1889 when 18,125 coins were minted.
     
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  13. buddy16cat

    buddy16cat Well-Known Member

    Yes, I don't know how to take pics of small coins like this. People are saying this is a F/VF coin but I think it is more like VF maybe I will get better at taking pics as I practice.
     
  14. KBBPLL

    KBBPLL Well-Known Member

    Try zooming in to about 3x and hold the phone farther away. Put the coin on a window sill in natural light (but not direct sunlight). Zoom in on your pic afterwards and see if it's in focus or not before posting - what you see is what we see. All it takes is a little practice, and film is cheap these days.
     
  15. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic numismatist Moderator

    They're fun coins in any grade.

    This one is a fairly recent purchase (trade) for me.


    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  16. Collecting Nut

    Collecting Nut Borderline Hoarder

    Take with your cell phone from about 6” away. Then crop the photo on your camera. Then attach it to your thread. Only trial and cf error will help you.
     
  17. Michael K

    Michael K Well-Known Member

    I have a number of these. You can see in photo 8 the 1888 obverse die clash which was frequent with this series (either side.)
     
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