Source: What’s Happening With Gold?

The United States Two Cents is an unusual denomination that first appeared in 1864, during a period of coin shortages caused by the Civil War. Attempts to introduce the Two Cents denomination occurred in 1806 and 1836, but both efforts failed due to technical considerations. In 1863, Mint officials revived the idea of a Two Cents Coin simultaneous with their plans to reduce the weight and metal content of the bulky, Copper-Nickel Indian Head Cent. Apparently, the Mint noticed the success of the privately issued Civil War tokens of One Cent size (on thinner, pure copper planchets) and realized that the public was now ready to accept what were essentially underweight coppers. In 1864, the Mint effectively destroyed the market for Civil War tokens by issuing almost forty million Indian Cents on copper planchets and nearly twenty million of the new Two Cents (at exactly double the weight of the One Cent coins).

The obverse of the Two Cents denomination features a shield with a pair of arrows crossed behind, dangles of leaves and berries on both sides, a scroll with “IN GOD WE TRUST” above, and the date below. The reverse shows the denomination “2 CENTS” within a wreath, all surrounded by the legend “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”.

Two Cents were issued from 1864 to 1873 and mintages declined steadily each year. Proof examples are known of all years.

Info taken from NGC

Ron Guth: The United States Three Cents is an unusual denomination that first appeared in 1851, although pattern coins for the denomination were produced in 1849 and 1850.  The original purpose of the Three Cents coins to provide an intermediate denomination between the Cent and Half Dime, making it easier to change some of the odd foreign coins that were legal tender in America at that time.  In 1851, postal rates were dropped from five to three cents.  While three Large Cents could have been used to purchase a postage stamp, the bulky copper coins were expensive to produce.  Thus, a coin of three cents value had two purposes, enough to get the denomination started in 1851.

In 1865, a “Nickel” Three Cents was introduced (the predominant metal in the coin was actually copper, but because the color was more whitish than brown, “nickel” was considered a better descriptor).  These were minted side-by-side with the silver versions until 1873, when the silver type was discontinued.  The nickel versions were minted until 1889, when the entire denomination was discontinued.

Several of the Nickel Three Cents were struck only as Proofs (1877, 1878, and 1886); other dates (such as 1884 and 1885) are represented by very few circulation strikes.  Interesting varieties include:

1873 Open 3
1873 Closed 3
1887/6 Overdate

The three cent piece has a wild west look to  it with the star and shield on the obverse. This small thin coin is rarely found in mint condition and even then it often has rim dings and scratches. The photos shows an almost pristine rare proof we recently acquired. To learn more about three cent pieces click on this link: Three Cent Nickel & Silver