1879 $3 MS(PCGS#8001)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

6267

Grade

MS63

Price

7,200

Lot Description

Delightful orange-apricot surfaces are sharply struck with an endearing satin to modestly semi-reflective finish. Both the originality and quality are exceptional for the type, suggesting that both a higher grade and the strongest bids are in order here.<p>It soon became evident that, even though the market achieved parity between gold coins and paper currency on December 17, 1878, contemporary Americans had little desire to exchange their bills for three-dollar gold pieces. The year 1879 actually marks the beginning of the end for this denomination that proved so unpopular in contemporary commercial channels, but which has been a favorite of advanced collectors since the closing decades of the 19th century. After achieving a relatively generous mintage of 82,304 circulation strikes in 1878, production of three-dollar gold pieces at the Philadelphia Mint plummeted once again in 1879. Only 3,000 coins were delivered for potential commercial use that year, few of which were actually paid out to banks. Several hundred Mint State survivors are known, nonetheless, these likely representing coins that were set aside as numismatic keepsakes or snatched up by dealers and other speculators during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.