1863 Pattern Three-Cent Piece. Judd-319 Restrike, Pollock-384. Rarity-5. Bronze. Plain Edge. Proof-65 RB (PCGS). CAC. Obv: A head of Liberty faces left with 13 stars around the border and the date 1863 below. Liberty is wearing a coronet inscribed LIBERTY. This design is very similar to that used for regular issue Braided Hair cent production from 1843 to 1857. Rev: A laurel wreath surrounds the denomination 3 CENTS with the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the border. Semi-brilliant in finish with wisps of iridescent blue and rose to otherwise sandy-tan surfaces. Patterns of this type were produced in response to a proposal to make bronze three-cent pieces at a time when all silver and gold coins were absent from circulation in the East and Midwest and before the two-cent, nickel three-cent and nickel five-cent coins had become a reality. From our (Bowers and Merenas) sale of the Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, May 1996, lot 157.
