VSI COLLECTION - Basic U.S.Type Set,1792-1964,Circulated Coins Only
3c SILVER, TYPE 3 1859-73

Owner Comments:

The trime as it was called by the Treasury Department was the smallest silver coin ever produced by the United States Mint.The 1860 specimen shown here was graded AU 55 by NGC.There were basically 3 different varieties produced of the Silver Three Cent piece.Variety 1 was made between 1851-1853 and had no lines bordering the six pointed star on the coin’s obverse side,Variety 2 was made between 1854 -1858 and had two lines and Variety 3 had only one line.Also,coins issued between 1854-1873 had an olive sprig added over the III and a bundle of arrows beneath the III on the reverse side of the coin.So,the 1860 Three Cent Silver coin shown here would be considered a Variety 3 coin.
However,the year 1860 was a most important Presidential Election year profoundly changing the country for years to come.The most important event of 1860 was the election of Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln as the 16th President of the United States.He defeated the Democratic Party candidate Steven Douglas in the election of 1860.Hannibal Hamlin would become Vice President and the new First Lady would be Mary Todd Lincoln.This would eventually lead to Civil War when the Southern States seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America.The two issuesthat would greatly separate the North from the South would be Slavery and States Rights.