The 1881 $3 gold piece is a famous low-mintage date, with only 500 struck for circulation. The entire mintage was delivered at a single time by the coiner in late June or early July of the year. Of all the circulation strike $3s produced, 1854-1889, the 1881 has the lowest mintage. An estimated two or three dozen examples of the date are available in Mint State, though the vast majority of those rest at the Mint State-60 or slightly finer level. In Mint State-63 the date takes on a special aura, as was the case for the Bass coin (Bowers and Merena, 1999) and the Jewell specimen (American Numismatic Rarities, 2005), both graded Mint State-63; any finer than that and the date becomes nearly impossible to obtain. Many important collections of the past have represented the date with a Proof owing to the rarity in Mint State.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the D. Brent Pogue Part III Auction, where it realized $76,375.