The three-cent silver was struck by the Mint of the United States for circulation from 1851 to 1872, and as a proof coin for collectors in 1873. A reduction of postage rates to three cents prompted Congress in 1851 to authorize the coin. At the time, profiteers were exporting and melting U.S. silver coins for their metal to trade for increasing amounts of gold in the wake of the California Gold Rush. The three-cent silver thwarted this scheme, as the first American coin with metal valued significantly less than its face value, and the first silver coin not usable as legal tender in unlimited amounts. Designed by the Mint's Chief Engraver, James B. Longacre, the coin saw heavy use until Congress protected other silver coins from profiteers in 1853 by reducing their silver content. The coin's place in commerce was lost with the economic chaos of the Civil War, which led to hoarding of all gold and silver coins. After the three-cent piece in copper-nickel emerged in 1865, the three-cent silver had a string of low mintages until its abolition by the Coinage Act of 1873. The series is not widely collected, and the pieces remain inexpensive relative to U.S. coins of similar scarcity.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-cent_silver

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1147:

Reconquista: Forces under Afonso I of Portugal captured Lisbon from the Moors after a four-month siege in one of the few Christian victories during the Second Crusade. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Lisbon

1415:

Hundred Years' War: Henry V of England and his lightly armoured infantry and archers defeated the heavily armoured French cavalry in the Battle of Agincourt on Saint Crispin's Day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt

1861:

The Toronto Stock Exchange, the stock exchange with the most mining and petrochemical companies listed in the world, was established. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Stock_Exchange

1980:

Proceedings on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, a multilateral treaty providing an expeditious method to return a child taken from one member nation to another, concluded at The Hague. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hague_Convention_on_the_Civil_Aspects_of_International_Child_Abduction

2010:

Mount Merapi in Central Java, Indonesia began an increasingly violent series of eruptions that lasted over a month. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_eruptions_of_Mount_Merapi

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

nacre: 1. (obsolete) A shellfish which contains mother-of-pearl. 2. A pearly substance which lines the interior of many shells; mother-of- pearl. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nacre

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Whoever will be free must make himself free. Freedom is no fairy gift to fall into a man's lap. What is freedom? To have the will to be responsible for one's self.   --Max Stirner https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_Stirner