1871 3CN MS(PCGS#3737)

June 2026 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

2013

Grade

MS67

Price

9,150

Lot Description

A thickly frosted Superb Gem with impressive cartwheel luster on primarily silver-gray surfaces that also reveal subtle rose, blue and gold iridescence. Struck from clashed dies, as most were, which feature is most readily appreciated above the date and around the left and right base of the obverse legend. The strike is razor sharp throughout, and the surfaces are so carefully preserved as to approach numismatic perfection.<p>The year 1871 is the first in which circulation strike nickel three-cent coinage failed to top the million-coin mark. Only 604,000 pieces were produced, in fact, confirming that the usefulness of this denomination in commerce was already waning. Most survivors were not preserved with anywhere near the level of care that we see evidence for here, as is easily verified by limited population figures at both PCGS and CAC. A stunning example that belongs in an elite collection.