United States: 1851-O silver 3-cent piece, Type 1

United States: 1851-O silver 3-cent piece, Type 1

NGC AU58. Cert. #6607223-018.

Numista-1129, Krause-Mishler-75.

Ex-Heritage Auction #132313, Lot 29069, 28 March 2023. Purchased in the slab.

The 1851-1873 silver three-cent piece, also referred to as a "trime", was the smallest silver coin struck by the United States. This one is a Type 1, the first subtype of the design, which was issued between 1851 and 1853. The Type 1 is distinguishable by the lack of extra lines outlining the six-pointed star on the obverse, which were later seen on the Type 2 and Type 3 coins.

This particular example is an 1851-O, struck at the New Orleans mint. The 1851-O is the only silver three-cent piece to have been struck at a branch mint, and it bears the "O" mintmark for New Orleans to the right of the "C" on the reverse. This date had a relatively lower mintage of just 720,000 pieces, compared to mintages in the millions or tens of millions for the other Type 1 dates. That and the mystique of the mintmark make the 1851-O popular.

I had always wanted one prior to purchasing this coin. Perhaps I was a bit unrestrained in my enthusiasm and ended up overpaying a little bit for it, but not by too much. I'm still happy to have it.



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