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My father remembered walking by in awe at the big lawn parties that Jimmy Barr used to have at his house in the 1920's. Presumably Jimmy was a descendant of those in the picture. They were a sight to behold for a child of Finnish immigrants. The gentry would come from miles around all dressed up in their fancy cars per my father.

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I've been thinking about 3CTS. all day now and my only suggestion is that it could be 3 cents? Would they have been selling something, such as the flags around the sign?

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Maybe this: A March 3, 1851 Act of Congress reduced the postal rate for a single letter sent up to 3,000 miles to three cents and also authorized the first issuance of a three cent coin. This is the first instance of a coin being minted directly to aid in the payment of a postal rate in the United States. In February 1853 an act was passed that reduced the silver content of all silver coins other than the dollar. As the new coins had an actual silver value less than their nominal face value, all prior silver coinage disappeared from circulation. This included foreign coins that had circulated, with official sanction, until 1857. Further hoarding of silver during the Civil War resulted in the virtual disappearance of silver coins in circulation.

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