1871 Three-Cent Silver
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 3,400 made
- Mintage
- 3,400
- 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 1871 Three-Cent Silver worth?
This is one of the dates collectors hunt for. A genuine 1871 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:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- 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 1871 Three-Cent Silver rare?
- Yes. Only 3,400 were made, 3rd lowest of the 23 regular issues in the series.
- Is the 1871 Three-Cent Silver silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.0217 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1871 Three-Cent Silver?
- No mint mark. Struck in Philadelphia.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1871 are scarcer?
- The 1872 at 1,000, the 1870 at 3,000. So the 1871 is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1871 Three-Cent Silver coins were made?
- 3,400.
What to check on your 1871
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Check the date and mint mark under magnification for tooling or added letters. Scarce dates are the ones forgers alter.
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Proof or circulation strike? A proof has mirror-like fields and frosted design details and was sold to collectors, not released in change. The 1871 Three-Cent Silver Proof (960 made) is the one to compare with.
- 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.
Never clean it. Collectors pay strong premiums for original surfaces and natural toning on a date like this. A cleaned coin can lose half its value or more. Low-mintage dates attract altered and counterfeit coins. Check that the date have not been tooled or added, or buy one already certified by PCGS or NGC.
The story of the 1871
Philadelphia made 3,400 in 1871, up from 3,000 in 1870. In 1872 the figure was 1,000.
No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1871 you find is from Philadelphia. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1868 (3,500) and the 1870 (3,000).
Only the 1872 and the 1870 have a lower mintage among Philadelphia's 22 Three-Cent Silvers.
More on the 1871
Just 3,400 three-cent silvers were struck for circulation in 1871. The coin is tiny, about 14 millimeters across and 0.75 grams, which earned it the nickname fish scale. Philadelphia was striking the copper-nickel three-cent piece in far larger numbers at the same time. James B. Longacre, who designed both, had died in 1869.
Most surviving 1871 business strikes are uncirculated or close to it, because they weren't needed in commerce. Some show reflective, prooflike surfaces, which makes telling them from proofs tricky. Proofs have sharp squared rims, mirror fields and crisp detail all the way to the edge; a business strike has softer rims and frosty luster. Weigh your coin on a jeweler's scale if you can, since a genuine piece should come close to 0.75 grams. A genuine 1871 in any grade carries a strong collector premium, so have it authenticated by a grading service before buying or selling. Proofs of 1871 were struck as well, which is why the distinction matters so much for this date.
Hoarding and the proof-only years (1863 to 1873)
When silver was hoarded during the Civil War, the three-cent silver stopped circulating. Philadelphia struck only 21,000 in 1863 and no more than 22,000 a year after that, falling to 1,000 in 1872. The copper-nickel three-cent piece of 1865 took over its role in commerce. Proof sets of these years included the coin.
Proofs were struck each year, often in numbers close to or above the business strikes, so proofs of these dates are easier to find than circulation strikes. The 1873 was made only as a proof with a closed 3, after which the Coinage Act of 1873 ended the denomination. Many business strikes of these years were later melted. Worn examples of the late dates are rare and are sometimes mistaken for impaired proofs.
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 | 1871 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 3,400 |
| 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 1871 Three-Cent Silver issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1871 Three-Cent Silver | 3,400 | Circulation strike | 0.0217 oz |
| 1871 Three-Cent Silver Proof | 960 | 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.