1878 $3 Indian Princess Three Dollar PCGS MS63 (CAC)

Here's a beauty, one that would be a wonderful addition to your collection. Ron Guth writes on PCGS Coinfacts, "The 1878 is known for its frosty luster which, on high grade pieces, has a shimmering effect that is simply lovely. The strike is usually good, but sometimes weak on the knot at the base of the wreath." PCGS has graded 1,021 as MS63 with 1,212 finer. In CAC, there are 92 in MS63 with 522 finer.

A cigar store Indian in front of a tobacconist shop.

Numismatic art scholar Cornelius Vermeule writes, "The 'princess'... is a banknote engraver's elegant version of folk art of the 1850s. The plumes or feathers are more like the crest of the Prince of Wales than anything that saw the Western frontiers, save perhaps on a music hall beauty. Iconographically this type of Indian maiden had occurred in American and 'primitive' paintings for many years past. The figureheads of ships and the sculptures before tobacconists' shops sported faces, tresses, and bonnets of this type."