US Two Cent Piece (Fakes are possible) 1864 to 1873

Most Americans do not know that we had two cent pieces back in the time of the Civil War. We also had three cent pieces and twenty cent pieces. These denominations soon gave way to those we have today.

Perhaps a young soldier carried your two cent piece in his pocket as he marched off to war. Those were trying times. In fact, the two cent piece is the first US coin to carry the motto In God We Trust. It was affixed to our coinage in response to the tortuous, but necessary, days of the Civil War. There was no other way to get rid of slavery.

With one firm exception, most dates of two cent pieces carry similar catalog values, as follows:

2 CENT PIECES (MOST DATES)
worn: $15 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $30
well preserved: $50
fully uncirculated: $130
coins dated after 1869 are a tad more rare, multiply these values by 1.5
*see further information below

The 1872 date is the firm exception.

2 CENT PIECE DATED 1872:
worn: $400
average circulated: $800
well preserved: $1000
fully uncirculated: $2200

Watch out for fake coins dated 1872. NGC has a great page on detecting these counterfeits at This Link [PRESS].

Be sure to correctly interpret the catalog values shown on this page. They are inflated values. Use our Terminology page to understand the difference between catalog value and actual buy and sell values.

*In addition to the values shown above, there are a few special twists with this neat coin. If you have a coin dated 1864, 1867, or 1873, seek out a knowledgeable collector or a coin dealer for an in-person appraisal. You might, for instance, have an 1864 'small motto' coin worth $600 in average circulated condition (see USA Coin Book). Such nuances are beyond the reach of a general-purpose resource such as CoinQuest. You can't beat in-person appraisals for evaluation of special coins.
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