Odd Silver Coin Find

[dogodog]

I just got back from a short 2 hour hunt on a 1830's property and found the usual clad, pull tabs, brass and a wheel weight. BUT I found an odd dime sized  silver coin. It looks like its dated 1885  all inscriptions are unreadable except the date. It has a roman numeral three with a wreath around it and a woman with some kind of armor head plate. This is a coin I've never found before, Any clue???

[devilsrenegade]

looks like a 3 cent nickel, nice find.

[Steve Herschbach]

The right 1885 three cent nickel is worth a lot of money.

[kac]

Thats cool!

[2Valen]

Very nice find, now go back and get the rest of that nickel.

[GB_Amateur]

12 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

The right 1885 three cent nickel is worth a lot of money.

Those (cupro-) nickel 3 cent pieces were apparently unpopular with the public, but the US Mint kept making them.  Only the first six years (1865-70) and 1881 did they mint more than 1 million per year.  From 1877-89 (last 13 years), with the exception of the above mentioned 1881, they never struck more than ~41,000.  If that last digit really is a 5 (and not a 3) then it is the most sought after date for circulation specimens, as there were only 1000 'business strikes' (released for commerce) while 3790 were made in proof condition as presentation/collector pieces.  (Even if that's a 3, the 1883 is rare as well.)

Therein lies the rub.  The business strikes are much more valuable than the proofs, but how would you be able to be certain that the coin you found isn't a proof that was at some point put into circulation (or just put in the ground...).

Even with that kind of rarity it might be difficult to get much for it.  A very rare find, no doubt!  You may just have to be satisfied with knowing that.

 

[dogodog]

Great info all !! I've had experiences with trying to sell some coins I thought were valuable. When they look at them an deem them not fine or very fine you end up with a face value coin. I would say this little coin is in the below good area. But to me this is a very cool find, I'll think I will keep it for the memories. UNLESS its worth $25,000 then I might part with it. ha ha   And to 2Valen oh I find more pennys than I want to,( I wonder if someone fly's over the  area's I hunt and throws handfulls out the window.) One coin I use to find a lot of was the old buffalo nickel, Can't remember the last time I scored on one of these. 

[dogodog]

I'm thinking of getting this coin graded. I looked around on the web and found some lower grades can fetch $500 to $700 not to bad! or trade for a new coil or two. I'm thinking this might be my best find money wise. Do you guy's think it's worth the money to have it graded ????

[2Valen]

16 hours ago, dogodog said:

One coin I use to find a lot of was the old buffalo nickel,

I have yet to find one of those myself, I think my 800 just ignores them.

[Guest Tnsharpshooter]

Nice find indeed.