1882 3CN PF66 PCGS #3778

Charles Morgan

The 1882 Three-Cent Nickel Proof

Often unfairly dismissed as a mere "type set" filler, the Three-Cent Nickel is an approachable 19th-century American coin series. with very few coins that would stand in the way of a dedicated collector seeking to assemble a full set of business strikes or Proofs.

Starting in 1865, the Mint produced Proof versions for every year of the coin’s production. For issues struck through 1876, mintages typically ranged between 600 and 1,100 pieces. In 1878 (the second of two consecutive Proof-only years), production surged to over 2,000 pieces. From that point until the series’ termination in 1889, Proofs remained plentiful, with annual outputs routinely exceeding 3,000.

Varieties and Die States

The 1882 Three-Cent Nickel Proof (#3778) has a reported mintage of 3,100 and boasts a high survival rate in "Gem" (PCGS Proof 65) or better. In his definitive work, United States Proof Coins, Volume II: Nickel (2023), numismatist John Dannreuther identifies five die marriages for this year, struck from two obverse and three reverse dies.

Dannreuther differentiates the obverse dies by the date’s position relative to the denticles below. The JD-2 variety, for instance, is unknown in "Perfect Die State"; it consistently displays a diagnostic die crack running from 10 o’clock to the left wreath leaves. The overwhelming majority of known 1882 Proofs are of the JD-1 variety, which was likely the primary die pair used for the initial production run. On many JD-1 examples, one can observe a series of long vertical and diagonal die lines running through the center of the reverse.

Survival Rate

The 1882 Three-Cent Nickel Proof, despite having a mintage considerably lower than the 1882 business strike (3,436 vs. 22,200), is actually the more common of the two coins in today’s market. To date, PCGS has certified approximately 43% of the original Proof mintage, yet only 16.9% of those graded exhibit any degree of Cameo contrast. Deep Cameos are exceptionally rare, with only five examples certified to date; the three finest known specimens are currently tied at PR67DCAM.

Vintage Market Snippets

The U.S. Mint originally sold the 1882 Three-Cent Nickel Proof individually and as part of the annual Minor Proof Set (Cent, Three-Cent, and Nickel) and the Silver Proof Set. Records indicate approximately 2,000 Minor Proof Sets were sold that year. Historically, some numismatists recognized the value of these coins early on. A.M. Smith, publisher of the Illustrated History of the U.S. Mint (1881), was known to have purchased them in quantity, reportedly owning at least 17 Minor Sets and 48 individual 1882 Three-Cent Nickels.

* * *