1873 Three Cent Patterns

About This Coin

Among the smaller denominations in William Barber's Trade Dollar Era Patterns (1871-1873), the 1873 Three Cent Patterns reimagined a denomination existing in two concurrent versions — the silver three-cent piece (trime) introduced in 1851 and the nickel three-cent piece added in 1865. Barber's obverse features the seated Liberty facing left with olive branch and wheat sheaf, proposing a unified design to replace the distinctly different motifs on the silver and nickel versions. The reverse displays an eagle perched on a bale of goods with olive branch and three arrows. A notable result of $15K in PR66 grade at American Numismatic Rarities reflects steady collector interest, produced at the Philadelphia Mint during a year when the Coinage Act of 1873 was simultaneously eliminating the silver three-cent piece. For numismatic historians, the 1873 Three Cent Patterns illuminate a denomination at a crossroads — the silver version being abolished while the nickel version would continue until 1889, and Barber's patterns proposed an entirely new artistic direction for whichever format might survive the legislative upheaval of the Crime of '73.