The U.S. Mint has Issued Two Kinds of Three Cent Coins for Circulation
The United States Mint has issued two kinds of Three Cent Coin: The Silver Three Cent Piece, or Trime, and the Nickel Three Cent Piece.
An easy way to tell these two apart is the obverse design, either a 6-pointed star or the Head of Liberty. If the design on your coin has been worn down, then weighing and measuring it will provide a conclusive answer.
What is a Trime?
Trimes, or Three Cent Silvers, were designed by James A. Longacre and issued from 1851 until 1873. Three Cent Silvers were struck at the New Orleans and Philadelphia Mints.
Their obverse design features a central 6-pointed star with a shield in the middle. On its edge, the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA encircle the star with the year of issue below the star. Its obverse displays the Roman numeral III inside a stylized letter ‘C’ with 13 stars around the edge.
There were three varieties of Three Cent Silvers, or Trimes struck:
Variety 1 was issued from 1851 until 1853. These weigh 0.8 grams, have a diameter of 14 mm, and are composed of .750 Silver and .250 Copper. The Variety 1 star has no lines around its border.
Varieties 2 and 3 were struck from 1853 through 1873 and have an olive spring over the reverse III with three arrows in a bundle underneath the III. They weigh slightly less at 0.75 grams, with the same size of 14 mm in diameter. Their composition is .900 Silver and .100 Copper. These two share dimensions and composition but have slight differences in the design.
Variety 2 Trimes were issued between 1854 -1858 and have two lines bordering the obverse six-pointed star.
Variety 3 Trimes were issued from 1859-1873 and have only one line bordering the obverse star. Nearly the entire production line of non-Proof Three Cent Silvers from 1863-1872 was melted in 1873.
Nickel Three Cent Pieces
Nickel Three Cent Pieces do not have a fun, Greek-sounding name like Trimes, and they were issued because the public hoarded the Trime. These were also designed by James A. Longacre and were coined exclusively at the Philadelphia Mint from 1865 until 1889.
Their obverse design features the head of Liberty, facing left and wearing a coronet on her head. The Words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA surrounds her, with the year of issue below. The reverse features a Roman numeral III, and instead of a stylized ‘C,’ there is a laurel wreath Longacre repurposed from the 1859 Indian Head Cent reverse.
Three Cent Nickels are slightly larger and weigh more than twice as much as Three Cent Silver Pieces. Nickel Three Cent Pieces weigh 1.94 grams and are 17.9 mm in diameter. Their composition is .750 Copper and .250 Nickel.
