1858 Three-Cent Silver Proof
Proof struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 210 made
- Mintage
- 210
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 0.75 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 1858 Three-Cent Silver Proof worth?
This is one of the dates collectors hunt for. A genuine 1858 is valuable in any condition, even well worn. That's exactly why fakes and altered coins turn up so often.
What would make yours worth more:
- Grade and, for proofs, strong cameo contrast
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1858 Three-Cent Silver Proof rare?
- Fairly. The Mint made 210 for collectors. Most were kept in their original packaging.
- Is the 1858 Three-Cent Silver Proof silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.0217 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1858 Three-Cent Silver?
- No mint mark. Struck in Philadelphia.
- How many 1858 Three-Cent Silver proofs were made?
- 210.
What to check on your 1858
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- 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.
Proofs from 1858 were struck one at a time in small numbers and many were later spent or mishandled. Look for hairlines from cleaning, which lower the grade.
The story of the 1858
Type 2 with a triple outline (1854 to 1858)
In 1854 the coin was raised to 90 percent silver and lightened to 0.75 grams, bringing it into line with other silver coins. Longacre added three outlines around the star and placed an olive sprig above and a bundle of arrows below the III on the reverse.
Type 2 coins are notoriously hard to strike well. Many show weak or missing details on the star and shield. Output dropped to 671,000 in 1854 and only 139,000 in 1855, the scarcest Type 2 date. Mintages recovered to over a million a year from 1856 to 1858. Proofs were made regularly from 1858, though they are rare for that year. A sharply struck Type 2 coin is the hardest of the three types to find.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1858
The Flying Eagle cent was struck for the last time, in Large Letters and Small Letters varieties, before the Indian Head cent replaced it.
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 | 1858 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Proof |
| Mintage | 210 |
| Face value | 3¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 0.75 grams |
| Diameter | 14 mm |
| Edge | Plain |
| Silver content | 0.0217 troy oz (0.675 g) |
| Designer | James B. Longacre |
Other 1858 Three-Cent Silver issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1858 Three-Cent Silver | 1,603,700 | Circulation strike | 0.0217 oz |
| 1858 Three-Cent Silver Proof | 210 | Proof | 0.0217 oz |
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.