1881 Three-Dollar Gold Piece. MS-64 (NGC). CAC. OH. Lovely and exceedingly rare Choice Mint State quality for this fabled key date entry from the later three-dollar gold series. Vivid medium gold color blankets surfaces that are boldly to sharply struck throughout the design. The finish is no less impressive, both sides predominantly satiny in texture but with decided reflective tendencies in the fields that are easily seen as the surfaces rotate under a light. Smooth for the grade and visually appealing, this coin will have no difficulty finding its way into a highly regarded collection of this challenging 19th century gold series.<p>With a mere 500 coins struck for commercial use, the 1881 has the lowest mintage among circulation strike issues of this denomination. The entire mintage was achieved in a single delivery in June or July of that year. Few, if any, saw active commercial use, the coins instead remaining as part of bullion reserves until they were eventually destroyed through melting. A small number of examples -- 125 or fewer coins -- were retrieved from banks through the efforts of numismatic dealers such as Thomas L. Elder, who sent circular letters to cashiers and tellers. Since Elder and others in this regard were active during the early 20th century, the coins they retrieved were lightly circulated and, indeed, the typical 1881 encountered in todays market grades EF or AU. Only two or three dozen Mint State examples have come down to the present day, and they are eagerly sought by both series specialists and other advanced collectors with a wider interest in classic U.S. Mint gold rarities.
