Mintage: 1,508,000                                                                     Proofs: 600

Variety Vs. Denticle Ruler Cross Reference Table

Scarcity: A marginally common date that becomes scarce in EF or better.  Finding well struck Mint State examples can 
be very difficult.  Mint State 1873 Closed 3 dimes with fully struck heads are currently underrated.
 
Updated Greer Rarity Ratings
Overall Rarity: G-VG R2, F-VF R2+, EF-AU R4-, MS R5-

                                Fortin Variety Rarity Estimates In VF - Mint State

Comments: 1873 Closed 3 dimes have a reputation for having weakly struck heads.  This observation may be tied to the 
high availability of Obverse 2 which is almost always flatly struck.  Obverse 5, with the repunched 1, comes with a well 
struck head.  Obverse dies in later die states with die cracks are most difficult to locate.  However the reverse 
dies often show circular die cracks in the wreath as is the case for Varieties 105 through 108.

All 1873 No Arrow proof dimes come with a Closed 3 date.  Ahwash states that two Closed 3 obverse dies were employed 
for proof coinage.  I have only seen proof examples from Obverse 1 and have decided to remove the Variety 102 proof
listing after careful research of 1873 No Arrows Closed 3 proof dimes offered at auction over a long period of time.

1873 No Arrow dimes are found with Open and Closed 3 digits.  This difference came about in early in 1873, before 
and after the omnibus Mintage Act of February 12, 1873 which attempted to introduce metric weights for United States 
coinage.  An article in the October 10, 2005 issue of Coin World provides ample insight into the historical background 
for Open and Closed 3 date seated dimes.  Within the Coin World article, Eric von Klinger presents an excerpt from a 
series on 1873 coins in the Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine dating from March 1957 to December 1958. A. Louden Snowden, 
chief coiner of the Philadelphia Mint, wrote to Mint Director James Pollack on Jan 18, 1873: "I desire in a formal 
manner to direct your attention to the 'figures' used in dating the dies for the present year.  They are so heavy, 
and the space brtween each so small that upon the smallest gold and silver, and upon the base coins it is almost 
impossible to distinguish with the naked eye, whether the last figure is an eight or a three.  I do not think it 
creditable to the institution that the coinage of the year should be issued bearing this defect in the date."

Incremental research of Closed 3 and Open 3 reverse die pairings suggests that reverse dies were shared between the 
dies with Closed and Open 3 date punches.  One would assume that Open 3 dimes were struck after Closed 3 dimes due to 
the leadtime necessary to prepare "improved" Open 3 obverse dies.  This assumption may not be completely accurate as 
Closed 3 Variety 108 dimes were struck with a reverse die initially paired with an Open 3 obverse.  More research is 
required in this area.
  
                               Value As A Date (Coin World Trends/CoinValues

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