3 Cents type 1 - no lines bordering star

Congress authorized the three-cent silver piece in March 1851 primarily to facilitate the purchase of the newly reduced three-cent postage stamp, itself a product of the Post Office's attempt to undercut private mail carriers. The coin's unusually low silver fineness — 75% rather than the standard 90% — was deliberate: it discouraged melting at a time when silver bullion prices were climbing on the back of California Gold Rush-driven monetary disruption.

The Type 1 variety, struck only during these first three years, lacks the additional outlines bordering the central star that later types carry. Philadelphia produced the vast majority; New Orleans struck a small quantity in 1851, the only branch mint issue in the entire series.