1862 3CS MS65 Certification #04232174, PCGS #3680

Ron Guth

In 1862, the mintage of the Three Cent Silver dropped another 150,000 (or so) to a grand total of 343,000 circulation strikes.  This has no effect on the pricing, which mimics that of the 1861 pretty much across the board.  Surprisingly, the population of the 1862 is hundreds higher than the 1861, and even higher when the 1862/1 overdate is added.  In fact, the 1862 has the third highest certified population of any Three-Cent Silver date except for 1851 (the first year of issue) and 1852.  Why the 1862 survives in such high numbers is unkown.

This date often comes heavulky clashmarked, with clear "ghosts" of the reverse surrounding the obverse star.  Also, this date can be found with an 1862/1 overdate; this can be cherrypicked often, as the overdate is subtle and almost looks like a normal date.

The PCGS Condition Census for the 1862 Three Cent Silver consists entirely of MS67 examples.