1866 & 1869 U.S. 3 Cent Pieces (I think) - Any Value? Hey guys, My buddy James showed me a bunch of coins his father had given to him last night. They were each in little manila coin holders, and labeled. There were some Indian heads, as well as some, I think dimes of some type? Neither of them have any mint marks, and the envelopes were labeled 'plain,' accordingly. Do these have any value? Sorry they're sideways, I edited them, but then they uploaded here back to sideways. Ugh.
There was also a 1904 Indian head cent (it was punched at the top though, prob came off a necklace), and several V nickels (one was 1909).
Those are not dimes, they are three cent nickels. I can't tell too much about them form the pics, but they are ones you want to hang on to.
Yep, they are not dimes. They are 3-cent nickels made from nickel (like the 5-cent coin). These coins replaced 3-cent silver coins.
If you take individual pics of each coin, obverse and reverse, we can give you a good idea as to how much they may be worth.
Just sent my buddy a message to try and get some better pics. I took these last night with my phone. I know it's probably hard to do, but does anyone have a ballpark figure about their value? In Unc condition, how much would they be worth, and then, say, in good condition, how much would they sell for?
The bad news is you are not rich: From looking at the photos, these appear to be low-grade 3-cent nickels from early in the series and these are pretty common. If they grade VG - FINE they'll fetch about $10-$15 on eBay on a good day. The good news is that they are worth keeping since most people have never seen or heard of U.S. 3-cent pieces and so these odd denomination coins make great conversation pieces.
I am really sad that all of the "new member threads" is that all they care about is the value! :smile
Hehe. Sorry. Let me clarify - I collect coins, just don't have a vast knowledge like many here do. These 3 cent pieces are not mine. If they were mine, they would be in my collection, not for sale. My friend got these along with a bunch of other from his dad, and he unfortunately couldn't care less about the actual coins. Thanks for everyone's responses!
It really wasn't rude... and like gbroke stated, most people that find/inherit older coins are interested in their value. It's just a natural curiosity to want to know the value of things (i.e., all the "reality" shows that have been dicussed here in depth, where the 'bottom line' is all that matters). Most of the time we want to believe our coins (or any item for that matter) is more valuable than it really is. That's why we call on 'experts' to slap us in the face with the harsh truth. And that, my young friend, is what 'reality' is all about.
As mentioned above they are 3 cent nickles 1866 mintage 4.8 million (second most common year) 1869 mintage 1.6 million Condition wise I would guess judging from those pics they both appear Fine condition at best, probably VG. Looking at completed Ebay auctions the 1866 should be worth around $10.00 and the 1869 $12.00.
