And probably worth close to the same as a real one in that condition. Contemporary counterfeits are widely collected. A solid VF 1861 contemporary half would actually be worth more than a real one.
Sure, that was the whole point of the counterfeits... at least post war, as coins returned to the marketplace, to pass a quick observation by looking vaguely familar. Happens today... without looking, describe a dime...
@Evan8 Neat... Also, that's a different die... notice on the reverse how much more developed the arrows and leaves are on yours. On mine they're just a sketch. On the obverse, different lines don't properly connect.
What's the weight on the 1860 in post #8? And, by contemporary, these were made to be passed as 3 cent coins and not a better modern fake would be sold to a collector at a high price. Like the Henning, could you really make back your time and expenses and make any kind of a profit with a 3 cent coin? Even if they only cost 1 cent apiece in mass production, how many can you possibly produce and not attract attention? 1 or 2 sure, who notices? But thousands of them, will draw attention.
I will check the weight when i get home. I cant remember off the top of my head. And in 1860 3 cents was quite a bit of money if you think about how there was such a lack of small change during the Civil War. I have a contemporary counterfeit 1870 shield nickel too. In 1870 5 cents was about the monthly salary of your typical farmer. Plus being a smaller coin that was more difficult to see the details of closely, I could see the smaller coins like trimes and nickels much more easy to pass than say a fake bust half dollar but yet there were thousands of those produced.
Interesting link, Michael. To save readers the trouble - looks like immigrants in 1869 in New York (who were typically paid less than non-immigrants) who were male and took employment as farmhands made about $9 per month (with board) in December to about $20 per month in July. Female servants made a pretty steady $9-$10 a month throughout the year. Skilled labor or manufacturing jobs made much more - up to $10 or $15 a week, depending on the job.
The $0.03 rate came about as a reduction in the postage rate. The networks of roads and railroads had substantially reduced the cost and the postage rate fell to reflect that.
Do they know how many counterfeit trimes were "circulated", or in collections today? Survival rate. Being such a tiny coin, I guess it was easy to pass. You could always claim you had no idea, and just got it in change the other day and didn't even look at it. If someone actually called you out about it.
