Set report · United States · Two Cents, Three Cents & Half Dimes
Three Cent Nickel: Who Owns What
How often each Three Cent Nickel coin actually turns up in a collection, measured by how many of the 888 collectors of this set have one. Coins are graded from Common to Extremely scarce against the set's most-owned coin — a measure of collecting frequency, not of how many survive.
Hardest to find in real collections
The five least-owned coins of the set — ownership counts are collector-reported.
…and the ones everybody has
Full set: ownership & rarity, coin by coin
Values by grade for each of these live on the Three Cent Nickel catalog pages and the full price guide.
| Coin | Mintage | Collectors | % of set collectors | How often collected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1865 | 11,382,000 | 495 | 55.7% | Common |
| 1865 (Proof) | 500 | 17 | 1.9% | Extremely scarce |
| 1866 | 4,801,000 | 328 | 36.9% | Uncommon |
| 1866 (Proof) | 725 | 11 | 1.2% | Extremely scarce |
| 1867 | 3,915,000 | 289 | 32.5% | Uncommon |
| 1867 (Proof) | 625 | 15 | 1.7% | Extremely scarce |
| 1868 | 3,252,000 | 265 | 29.8% | Uncommon |
| 1868 (Proof) | 600 | 11 | 1.2% | Extremely scarce |
| 1869 | 1,604,000 | 198 | 22.3% | Scarce |
| 1869 (Proof) | 600 | 10 | 1.1% | Extremely scarce |
| 1870 | 1,335,000 | 190 | 21.4% | Scarce |
| 1870 (Proof) | 1,000 | 12 | 1.4% | Extremely scarce |
| 1871 | 604,000 | 141 | 15.9% | Scarce |
| 1871 (Proof) | 960 | 10 | 1.1% | Extremely scarce |
| 1872 | 862,000 | 144 | 16.2% | Scarce |
| 1872 (Proof) | 950 | 11 | 1.2% | Extremely scarce |
| 1873 | — | 146 | 16.4% | Scarce |
| 1873 (Proof) | 1,100 | 11 | 1.2% | Extremely scarce |
| 1873 Open 3 (Variety) | — | 27 | 3% | Extremely scarce |
| 1874 | 790,000 | 151 | 17% | Scarce |
| 1874 (Proof) | 700 | 9 | 1% | Extremely scarce |
| 1875 | 228,000 | 101 | 11.4% | Very scarce |
| 1875 (Proof) | 700 | 9 | 1% | Extremely scarce |
| 1876 | 162,000 | 85 | 9.6% | Very scarce |
| 1876 (Proof) | 1,150 | 11 | 1.2% | Extremely scarce |
| 1877 | — | 1 | 0.1% | Extremely scarce |
| 1877 (Proof) | 900 | 12 | 1.4% | Extremely scarce |
| 1878 | — | 1 | 0.1% | Extremely scarce |
| 1878 (Proof) | 2,350 | 13 | 1.5% | Extremely scarce |
| 1879 | 38,000 | 74 | 8.3% | Very scarce |
| 1879 (Proof) | 3,200 | 9 | 1% | Extremely scarce |
| 1880 | 21,000 | 70 | 7.9% | Very scarce |
| 1880 (Proof) | 3,955 | 9 | 1% | Extremely scarce |
| 1881 | 1,077,000 | 196 | 22.1% | Scarce |
| 1881 (Proof) | 3,575 | 11 | 1.2% | Extremely scarce |
| 1882 | 22,200 | 66 | 7.4% | Very scarce |
| 1882 (Proof) | 3,100 | 10 | 1.1% | Extremely scarce |
| 1883 | 4,000 | 80 | 9% | Very scarce |
| 1883 (Proof) | 6,609 | 11 | 1.2% | Extremely scarce |
| 1884 | 1,700 | 67 | 7.5% | Very scarce |
| 1884 (Proof) | 3,942 | 11 | 1.2% | Extremely scarce |
| 1885 | 1,000 | 77 | 8.7% | Very scarce |
| 1885 (Proof) | 3,790 | 13 | 1.5% | Extremely scarce |
| 1886 | — | 1 | 0.1% | Extremely scarce |
| 1886 (Proof) | 4,290 | 14 | 1.6% | Extremely scarce |
| 1887 | 5,001 | 77 | 8.7% | Very scarce |
| 1887 (Proof) | 2,960 | 10 | 1.1% | Extremely scarce |
| 1887 7 Over 6 (Proof) | — | 10 | 1.1% | Extremely scarce |
| 1888 | 36,501 | 84 | 9.5% | Very scarce |
| 1888 (Proof) | 4,582 | 11 | 1.2% | Extremely scarce |
| 1889 | 18,125 | 88 | 9.9% | Very scarce |
| 1889 (Proof) | 3,436 | 11 | 1.2% | Extremely scarce |
- Common
- Uncommon
- Scarce
- Very scarce
- Extremely scarce
Based on the share of this set's collectors who own each coin — how often it turns up in a collection, not how many survive. Not the Sheldon rarity scale.
About these numbers
Ownership counts come from the same live per-coin counters shown across the LuckyCoin catalog; set-level collector counts come from the annual full-collection scan behind The State of Coin Collecting 2026. Counts are collector-reported and aggregate-only. Scarcity tiers come from 100 × (1 − owners ÷ owners of the set's most-owned coin): Common under 25, Uncommon 25–49, Scarce 50–74, Very scarce 75–89, Extremely scarce 90+. This reflects how often a coin is collected, not its surviving population — it is not the Sheldon rarity scale. CC BY 4.0 with attribution.