1853 Three-Cent Silver
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 11,400,000 made
- Mintage
- 11,400,000
- Metal
- 75% silver, 25% copper
- Weight
- 0.8 g
- Diameter
- 14 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is an 1853 Three-Cent Silver worth?
In worn condition it trades for about its silver content, 0.0193 troy ounces. Uncirculated coins with full luster or attractive toning sell for more.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1853 Three-Cent Silver rare?
- No. With 11 million made, it's one of the most common Three-Cent Silvers.
- Is the 1853 Three-Cent Silver silver?
- Yes. It's 75% silver, 25% copper and holds 0.0193 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1853 Three-Cent Silver?
- No mint mark. Struck in Philadelphia.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1853 are scarcer?
- The 1855 at 139,000, the 1854 at 671,000, the 1857 at 1,042,000, plus 3 more. So the 1853 is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1853 Three-Cent Silver coins were made?
- 11,400,000.
What to check on your 1853
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Old coins pick up damage over a long life. Look for holes, bends, scratches or signs of cleaning before you judge the grade, because a damaged coin sells for a fraction of a problem-free one.
- Judge the grade under good light. The star's outlines and the shield at its center show wear first. These thin coins are often bent or damaged.
Circulated examples are usually traded for their silver content. Pick out the best ones: original luster and attractive toning lift a coin above melt, while cleaned coins lose most of their collector value.
The story of the 1853
Output at Philadelphia slipped to 11,400,000 in 1853, from 19 million the year before. In 1854 the figure was 671,000.
No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1853 you find is from Philadelphia.
Across Philadelphia's 22 Three-Cent Silver issues, the hardest to find is the 1872 with 1,000 made. The 1853 is one of the easier ones. Within the 1850s it's 9th smallest of 10, between the 1851 (5.4 million) and the 1852 (19 million).
1853 is the last year the Three-Cent Silver was made in 75% silver, 25% copper. Check the edge or weigh it if you find one from the year after.
Type 1 trimes for the postage rate (1851 to 1853)
The Act of March 3, 1851 cut the letter postage rate to three cents and created a small silver three-cent piece to pay it. James B. Longacre's design shows a six-pointed star with a shield on one side and a C with the Roman numeral III on the other. At 0.80 grams it is the lightest silver coin the United States has struck.
Type 1 coins are 75 percent silver and have no outline around the star. Philadelphia struck 18,663,500 in 1852. New Orleans struck 720,000 in 1851, the only branch mint three-cent piece. The low silver content kept them in circulation while full-weight silver coins were being hoarded. Survivors are common in worn grades and are frequently bent or holed.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1853
Silver bullion was worth more than face value, so the Act of February 21, 1853 reduced the weight of the half dime, dime, quarter and half dollar. Arrows beside the date and rays on the reverse marked the lighter coins.
How to recognize it
The smallest US silver coin shows a six-pointed star with a shield in its center and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around it. The reverse has a Roman numeral III inside an ornate letter C, surrounded by 13 stars. Type 1 (1851 to 1853) has no outline around the star, Type 2 (1854 to 1858) has three lines and Type 3 (1859 to 1873) has two.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Three-Cent Silver (1851–1873) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1853 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 11,400,000 |
| Face value | 3¢ |
| Composition | 75% silver, 25% copper |
| Weight | 0.8 grams |
| Diameter | 14 mm |
| Edge | Plain |
| Silver content | 0.0193 troy oz (0.600 g) |
| Designer | James B. Longacre |
Mintage: Three-cent silver (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.