Calling all 3cn experts (Prethen)! 0

[Imus B. Clectin]

I have a 1875 MS63 3CN that looks PL.  I'm thinking it may even be a proof.  How can you tell the difference between a proof and a business strike?  Especially in this year?  I compared everything and did some research and they pretty much look identical to me.

[Mohawk]

Hi Imus!

That's a tricky issue.....I'm not a 3 Cent CN expert, but I can tell you that we'll need photos to help you out with this one.  There are a lot of people here who are very knowledgeable about US coins......with some good pics, I'm sure someone could help you out.

Good luck!

~Tom

[Mohawk]

I did just think of something else that may be helpful in the meantime for you......have you checked out NGC's Coin Explorer page for CN 3 Cents?  They tend to have good photos and information for both proofs and business strikes.  Here's a link to that for you:

https://www.ngccoin.com/coin-explorer/nickel-three-cents-1865-1889-pscid-21

[Just Bob]

I just spent about 30 minutes switching back and forth between pictures of MS and proof 1875 3CN, and I could find no discernible difference. I used pictures from both NGC and PCGS, but I could see nothing that I could point to and say that it was a definite marker for either a proof or business strike. I would assume that since there were only 700 proofs struck that year, there would have been only one die pair used, but I have no way to prove that. If that is the case, there may very well be some die marker that can be seen with enough magnification, but I am afraid that I don't know what it is.

[bwolper]

Post pics if you can. I would be interested in seeing the coin.