Does this 3 Cent Nickel Look Authentic?

There's a dealer here who has told me on several occasions a story about an ad he placed in Coin World looking for MS nickel 3 cent pcs. The cost was not much so he kept the ad for 3 years . He told me he returned more proofs coins and never completed his set. He is just about convinced it' a task few can do.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

That is a very good reference from actual practice. .
It sounds like the survival estimates in the low hundreds are accurate for many later dates. And the low three cent denomination doesn't help -- they would not have been handled as carefully overall. Even bust dimes that are 50 to 60 years older dates with similar survival rates are plentiful.

 

From my experience and understanding this series isn't for a collector with shallow pockets....plus they need be very knowledeable in said series.
The same can be said for the shield nickel.....early date heavy mintages towards the end a dribble.

 

When you are dealing with early coppernickel alloy coins the "square rims" rule is NOT a hard and fast rule. They had a lot of problems with coppernickel alloys and it can be very difficult to tell proofs from MS business strikes. Even the TPG's frequently get it wrong calling coins with known business strike die markers proofs and vice-versa. They messed up on 1856 FE cents so often that PCGS eventually just decided to call ALL of them proofs. Business strikes on 1880 and 1881 shield nickels are so rare and high priced that many questionable pieces have been called proofs to avoid potential financial liability.

 

This is a proof coin. I can tell by the denticles. On a circulation strike, the bottom of the second 8 points to the space between two denticles, while on a proof, the second 8 points straight to a denticle. This coin is the latter.

I think you can also tell 1880 and 1881 shield nickels this way:
1880: circ strike has the 1 pointing straight into a denticle, proof points between two denticles
1881: circ strike has the first 1 pointing between two denticles, proof points straight at a denticle

 

I came to the same conclusion as well. Thanks for your input.

 

Sometimes it’s not just the characteristics of a proof coin such as the squared off rims, as evidenced by early copper nickel coins. Sometimes you have to look at die markers as well.

 

I agree completely. I hope to learn a lot more about this series now that I'm retired and have the time and interest to do so. I still have the 5 different date 3CNs l bought 45 years ago and even though they are average circulated specimens they mean as much to me now as my high end ones. My goal is to build a complete date set and a subset of interesting varieties/clashes.