Building an Upper-End Three Dollar Gold Collection
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1854-D $3.00 PCGS AU55 CAC
For many reasons, the Three Dollar series is a fun and interesting set to complete by date. Between 1854 and 1889, there were 40 different issues made for circulation. This includes the enigmatic 1873, but it doesn’t include the unique 1870-S or the Proof-only 1875 and 1876.
This is a set which is completable and it can be done with nearly all the coins grading Uncirculated. A few issues will likely have to be obtained in About Uncirculated due to rarity and price concerns, and others might prove more attractive in AU58 than, say MS61 or MS62.
If I were putting such a set together, I would want all the coins to be graded by PCGS and as many as possible to be CAC approved. I’d estimate that around 65-75% of the dates can be found with CAC approval while the other dates may prove difficult if not nearly impossible to find stickered.
1867 $3.00 PCGS MS64 CAC
There are a few caveats which I can share based on having purchased hundreds (if not thousands) of nice Threes over the course of my career:
Try and buy coins with nice color and surfaces. For some reason, it has always been a little easier to locate nice, original Threes than other denominations from this era.
Buy the right coin(s) the first time. In other words don’t start with an MS61 1870 than upgrade to an MS62 than upgrade again to an MS63. This is expensive and you’ll wind-up with a number of duplicates you really don’t want.
Don’t overbuy the common dates. There’s no reason to buy a coin like an 1878 in MS66 when an MS65 will suffice at a fraction of the price.
Here is a list of all the dates in this series along with suggested grades and some comments:
| DATE | SUGGESTED GRADES |
COMMENTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1854 | MS64 |
very common |
| 1854-D | AU53/55 | be more concerned with appearance than numerical grade |
| 1854-O | AU55 | properly graded 55s are scarce |
| 1855 | MS63/64 | common in 63, scarce in 64 |
| 1855-S | AU55 | hard to find above 55 |
| 1856 | MS63/64 | common in 63, scarce in 64 |
| 1856-S | AU58 | better value in 58 than 61/62 |
| 1857 | MS62/63 | underrated date |
| 1857-S | AU55/58 | very rare with natural color |
| 1858 | AU58 | very tough issue in Uncirculated |
| 1859 | MS62/63 | fairly easy to locate |
| 1860 | MS63 | good value in this grade |
| 1861 | MS62/63 | popular Civil War issue |
| 1862 | MS62 | hard to find above 62 |
| 1863 | MS62 | hard to find above 62 |
| 1864 | MS62 | hard to find above 62 |
| 1865 | AU58 | second rarest Philly Three |
| 1866 | MS62/63 | very underrated date |
| 1867 | MS62 | almost impossible above 62 |
| 1868 | MS63 | most common date of this era |
| 1869 | MS61/62 | very scarce in uncirculated |
| 1870 | MS62 | very scarce above this |
| 1871 | MS62/63 | more available than 1869/70 dates |
| 1872 | MS62 | rare above this |
| 1873 | AU53/55 | be more concerned with appearance than numerical grade |
| 1874 | MS64 | very common |
| 1877 | AU55 | rarest Philly Three |
| 1878 | MS65 | ok date to pay up for a Gem |
| 1879 | MS64 | common |
| 1880 | MS64 | fairly common |
| 1881 | MS62/63 | scarce |
| 1882 | MS63/64 | common |
| 1883 | MS63/64 | more available than its mintage suggests |
| 1884 | MS63 | popular low-mintage issue |
| 1885 | MS63/64 | more available than its mintage suggests |
| 1886 | MS62 | rare above this grade |
| 1887 | MS64 |
common |
| 1888 | MS64 |
common |
| 1889 | MS64 | common |
1856-S $3.00 PCGS MS64
A set which includes mostly PCGS/CAC coins in this grade range is likely to be a $500,000+ commitment. Even with ready funds, it would likely take at least three to five years to complete the set. My experience is that there are a number of “sleepers” which will prove more difficult to acquire than one would expect, especially if a collector commits to high quality for each issue.
Let’s work on a comparable set of Three Dollar gold pieces together! For more information, feel free to contact me at (214) 675-9897 or via email at dwn@ont.com.
