United States: proof copper-nickel 3-cent piece, Liberty head type, 1888

United States: proof copper-nickel 3-cent piece, Liberty head type, 1888





Obverse: Liberty head left, wearing coronet.
Reverse: Roman numeral III within olive wreath.

Philadelphia mint; 4,582 proofs struck. PCGS PR65 CAM, cert. #26166713. Ex-Pinnacle Rarities, Inc, 11/12/2015.

I already had a nice enough PCGS PR64 nickel 3-cent piece in my collection, but in the process of selling some other things, I found I had enough money to purchase this one as an upgrade, so I could then sell the previous coin and recoup some of the money. Pinnacle Rarities' inventory and service had impressed me more than a decade before when they sent me a very nice proof Seated half on approval. But I ended up not buying that coin- it was lovely but was (and still would be) in a league I really had no business playing in on my budget. So I was happy to finally consummate a (smaller) deal with Pinnacle all this time later.

I loved the look of this coin not only for its Cameo contrast but the pastel toning as well. There is a tiny hairline to the left of the word "OF" at twelve o'clock on the obverse, but this must have been exaggerated a bit by the lighting in the photos. In hand, it is much more subtle and I couldn't really even see it until I had the coin under a 7x loupe. The existing photographs were made through the plastic slab. Perhaps one day I will submit this for reimaging and reholdering through the PCGS TrueView service.

Miscellaneous links:
Larger image
PCGS cert verification page
PCGS Coinfacts page
PCGS priceguide trends
Numismedia priceguide trends (no CAM/DCAM prices)

Wikipedia links:
Three-cent piece (United States coin)

When posted here, this coin was part of my "Eclectic Box of 20" collection.

 

1888 is just a fun date all around, for the "Crazy Eights" factor, if nothing else.

 

Fun little coins. Underappreciated, I think. And they're one of the more affordable proof types from the 19th century, if you wanted a proof. Plus there's the appeal of an odd, obsolete denomination. Most Americans have no idea there were ever three cent pieces, of course.

 

Dont let the online "Lord" title fool you. In point of fact, I am a mere peasant.

I am a low-ranking hotel night clerk whose hourly wage would not be much above the minimum wage in some states. I live paycheck-to-paycheck with little in the way of savings (except for these coins), and I drove a succession of 20-year-old clunker vehicles until I finally had to bite the bullet and make payments on a better (used) car. I live in rural Georgia in a small, rundown singlewide mobile home with holes in the roof and floor. When not dressed for work at the hotel, I look like a redneck trucker: protruding belly, missing teeth, and all.

Does that answer your question? LOL

But seriously, after forty years of being an impoverished collector, I wanted to pursue some quality coins. The only way for me to pull that off was to sell all the other collections I had built in the prior twenty years and roll them all into this one box of twenty coins. By keeping the collection small (for one to come in, I have to sell another one), and gradually, gradually upgrading over the years, I've come to this. It still isn't up there with some of the elite collections I've seen, but I'm proud of it.

And thank you.

Oh- and also- don't be fooled by the fact that I've just posted a long succession of nice coins. I am in the process of transferring the collection threads from Collectors Universe over to here, which is why you see several pieces a day. In reality, I only add to the Box of 20 two, three, or four times on a quarterly basis. Now that it's all been transferred, there won't be any new threads until I write up the latest purchases.

 

This is a good point. For some of these series, comparing business strikes and proofs is apples and oranges.

Take, for instance, the 1877 Indian cent. No doubt the proof enjoys a premium due to the popularity and relative scarcity of its business strike counterpart, but a proof 1877 IHC really isn't that much tougher than the other proof dates of the era.

Regardless, I am a fan of proofs.

 

It took me a while to come around to that philosophy, believe me, but now that I have, I have no regrets. There was a lot of fun stuff in those "lesser" collections I sold off, and there is certainly plenty of fun to be had with lower-tier coins. (Heck, you're talkin' to a guy who once collected holed coins... deliberately!)

I still do play with less-expensive coins on the side. They're too fun not to. But nowadays when I want to play with cheaper coins I will build up a small collection of them for a few months to a year or so, and then, when it's complete or nearly so, I'll sell it and roll the entire lump sum into one "better" coin for the Box of 20. This strategy works well for me, since I'm not the patient "save up for nine months to buy a coin" kind of guy. And otherwise, I would never have a $300-500+ lump sum to sink into a single coin at any given time.