Near Gem 1888 Indian Princess $3 PCGS MS66 CAC- $24,400.00 Click on Coin Image to
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Stunning gem. Lovely satin luster.
This low mintage, Mint State 1888 Three Dollar Gold
coin is well struck and has twinkling mint luster in
protected areas of both sides of the piece. There are
full details on the ends of the feathers, Liberty’s
hair, the central elements of the reverse, and the components
of the wreath. They are completely original and clean
for the grade with no notable abrasion marks or other
distractions. Only 12 coins have been certified by CAC
in MS-66 and NONE BETTER.
Please contact
me by email
or telephone 1-941-291-2156
to reserve this great coin.
In 1851 a law was passed
that authorized a three cent piece and also made the
postage rate three cents. Two years later a new law
was passed authorizing a light weight silver three cent
coin and three dollar gold coin. Evidently lawmakers
believed that the gold coin would be useful to buy rolls
of three cent coins and sheets of stamps. Its closeness
to the quarter eagle, which was widely used, made the
denomination somewhat illogical, and the public proved
indifferent to them.
James Longacre designed
the three dollar gold coin using an Indian Princess
motif. He had to create a motif that would be distinctly
different from the quarter and half eagle coronet designs.
The design, similar to his Gold Dollar Large Head, shows
a head of Liberty facing left wearing a stylized headdress.
Inscribed on the headband is LIBERTY. She is surrounded
by the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. In using the
Indian Princess motif, Longacre felt that he was designing
something that was uniquely American rather than an
adoption from the classics. The reverse shows an open
wreath of corn, cotton, wheat, and tobacco tied at the
bottom with a bow. The denomination 3 appears at the
top center of the wreath, with DOLLARS and the date
below within the wreath. Longacre liked the wreath design
so much that he adopted it for use on the small cent
of 1856.
