Just 2,500 examples of the date were produced for circulation, and perhaps 150 to 200 pieces can be found today in all grades. It is thought there could be as many as 20 to 30 Mint State 1869 $3s extant. True Uncirculated examples of the date tend to hover at the Mint State-60 to 62 level and anything finer than MS-62 is a real showstopper. In 1869 the San Francisco Mint received four $3 dies from Philadelphia but, again, no coinage of the denomination was produced. The branch mint hadn’t produced $3 coins since 1860 and would not produce any other dates in the denomination save for the 1870-S $3, of which two were made, the other being lost.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the Spring 2022 Showcase Auction, where it realized $57,600.