The GFRC Open Set Registry Community Project

Three Cent Silvers - Major Varieties, Business Strikes

The Three Cent Silver was first issued in 1851 and ended in 1873. During that time, there was only one issue outside of Philadelphia, the first year from New Orleans (1851-O) and one year proof only issue, (1873). Significant mintage reductions and the reported melting of business strikes between the dates 1863-1872 make this a very difficult set to complete. Collecting this series has been my numismatist passion for the last 5 years. The dates 1851-1862 were easily obtainable as one would expect as all dates and grades are readily available thru dealers on the internet or at most larger coin shows. It has been my experience that the 1855 and 1857 can be challenging in nicer collectable grades. As for the dates 1863-1872, these mostly appear in mint state conditions and proof and are rarely available in grades lower. A major dealer on the East Coast started me in this direction by selling me his duplicates which included the very rare 1872 thus enabling a realistically opportunity to complete the Three Cent Silver set. Finally, just this year, June 2014, I was able to purchase the final business strike I needed to complete my set thanks to GFRC who directed me to the coin, the 1863 in which I bought as a raw piece and then submitted to PCGS and it returned AU53 to my joy.

- Terry Hess



Click Collection Name to view its composition. The Blank Collection is an empty version.

Collection Rating Complete Weighted Grade caccoin.com Last Updated
The Sacandaga Collection 24.0 59% 60.0 25% December 19, 2023
The Blank Collection
Collection Rating Complete Weighted Grade caccoin.com Last Updated
The Terry Hess Collection 51.2 96% 55.4 12% October 29, 2017
The JMFrzy Collection 44.6 96% 47.4 0% November 13, 2017
The Sacandaga Collection 24.0 59% 60.0 25% December 19, 2023
The John Okerson Collection 10.6 52% 33.6 0% February 21, 2017
The Newtown Collection 9.5 48% 33.2 0% May 9, 2017
The Civil War Collection 8.7 22% 53.7 17% March 18, 2021
The Medway Collection 5.4 19% 56.2 40% April 5, 2022
The Whiskey Creek Collection 1.3 4% 67.1 100% July 11, 2018
The Blank Collection

Rating: The weighted average of all coin grades (i.e. aggregated sum of each coin grade + CAC premium multiplied by its rarity factor divided by the sum of all rarity factors). Missing coins are included and assigned a grade of 0. This metric is the basis for order rank.

Complete: The number of coin entries divided by the total number of coins in the Set.

Weighted Grade: The weighted average of all coin grades (see calculation above), but excluding any missing coins.

%: The ratio of coins certified by CAC (either green or gold sticker). Calculated as the number of CAC coins divided by the total number of entered coins.

Rarity Factor: The rarity assessment for each date/variety uses the Sheldon scale of R1 through R8 with a R1 weight being the most common while an R8 weight being the most difficult to locate. Rarity estimates are by Terry Hess.