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1873-CC Arrows 10c - CC Coin of the Week 10-5-09
15 years 2 months ago - 14 years 4 months ago #459
by Belayoff
1873 was a politically charged, tumultuous period in our nation’s numismatic history. Later known as the “Crime of 73”, the Coinage Act of 1873 de-monetized silver and placed the country on a de-facto gold standard. Huge quantities of “obsolete” silver coinage was ordered melted and several other types and denominations were never to be minted again. Among the later were the Seated Liberty Silver Dollar, the Seated Liberty Half Dime, the Silver Three Cent piece or Trime, and for some reason, even the Two Cent copper coin.
A major provision of the Coinage Act of 1873 was the adoption of the metric system as our weight standard for coin production. The new units of measurement were henceforth to be grams instead of grains and the new weight standards were 2 ½ grams for dimes, 6 ¼ grams for quarters and 12 ½ grams for half dollars. These new standards created a miniscule increase in the weight of all three denominations. The change in the change (lol - sorry) was virtually impossible to detect by sight or feel. Nevertheless, Congress felt it was necessary to mark these “heavier” weight coins with Arrows on both sides of the date. Designed by William Barber, the two arrows created a very desirable new “type” coin for the numismatic world. Among these was the 1873 CC Arrows Dime, the C4OA Coin of the Week.
With a total mintage of only 18,791, the 1873 CC Arrows Dime was destined from the beginning to become a rare coin. PCGS assigns the 1873 CC Arrows Dime a 7.7 rating on the Coin Facts Rarity Scale which estimates between 121 and 130 extant. With less than 1% or the original production remaining, this is a very tough coin to collect. In fact, excluding the unique 1873 CC No Arrows Dime, there are only two dates from the Carson City Dime series that are more difficult to collect, the 1871 CC Dime and 1874 CC Arrows Dime.
An easy internet search shows graded populations of 50 at PCGS, 34 at NGC and 54 at ANACS totaling 138 graded coins. Of course, the rather high dollar value of this coin makes it very likely that a certain percentage of the 138 are resubmissions. At the same time, a coin of this importance is unlikely to have many raw examples floating around outside of the known census. Taken together, these realities substantiate the 7.7 rating.
There is only one variety of the 1873 CC Arrows Dime which is also true for it’s two closest cousins, the 1873 CC No Arrows Dime and the 1874 CC Arrows Dime. Each of these three coins was struck with its own obverse die but with the exact same reverse die. The reverse die is from the second variety of the 1872 CC Dime and is easily diagnosed by the thin die crack running diagonally through the CC mint mark.
PCGS also gives us the following current price scale which matches up accurately with the auction prices on the C4OA web site.
G4 -$3,000 F12 -$6,500 VF30 -$11,000 EF40 -$19,000 MS65 -$275,000
NGC pricing shows slightly lower values than PCGS for most of these grades. But I am always amused by NGC price tables which show very precise values for grades where no actual known coin exists in either NGC or PCGS records. The founder of NGC must have been a Boy Scout – Be Prepared!
The specific 1873 CC Arrows Dime in the photographs is one of my favorite coins. This F 15 graded coin has original surfaces that have been slightly darkened by the natural patina of age. There are several old and minor dings and abrasions on the obverse that are consistent with its use in daily commerce and with the coin’s F 15 grade. Only two marks are worth mentioning for coin identity purposes but neither detracts from the great eye appeal this coin enjoys. One very old mark is high in the right, middle field level with Liberty’s knee and the other is a thin vertical scratch between the right shoulder and the pole.
The planchet was struck off-center by a tiny percentage but, overall, the strike is one of the coin’s best features. The deep, well protected areas within the shield lines provide the only remaining evidence of the coin’s original porosity which is so typical with Carson City minted coins. Except for the wear at the tip, the vertical and horizontal lines in the shield remain sharp as does every letter in LIBERTY. The date and arrows were well protected and the every one of the letters in the legend stands out proudly. The die state must have been early as there is no evidence of degeneration or broken tines in the lettering. A somewhat unique aspect found in the Carson City Dime series is that the obverse is frequently found to have the stronger grade of the two sides. The 1873 CC Arrows Dime in the PCGS F15 holder, exampled here is an excellent example of that characteristic.
The 1873 CC Arrows Dime is an endlessly interesting coin from an equally interesting time in our history. I hope you enjoyed my ten cents worth of the Carson City Coin of the Week.
Belay Off
C4OA Lifer!
1873-CC Arrows 10c - CC Coin of the Week 10-5-09 was created by Belayoff
CC Coin of the Week
1873 CC Arrows Dime PCGS F15
1873 CC Arrows Dime PCGS F15
1873 was a politically charged, tumultuous period in our nation’s numismatic history. Later known as the “Crime of 73”, the Coinage Act of 1873 de-monetized silver and placed the country on a de-facto gold standard. Huge quantities of “obsolete” silver coinage was ordered melted and several other types and denominations were never to be minted again. Among the later were the Seated Liberty Silver Dollar, the Seated Liberty Half Dime, the Silver Three Cent piece or Trime, and for some reason, even the Two Cent copper coin.
A major provision of the Coinage Act of 1873 was the adoption of the metric system as our weight standard for coin production. The new units of measurement were henceforth to be grams instead of grains and the new weight standards were 2 ½ grams for dimes, 6 ¼ grams for quarters and 12 ½ grams for half dollars. These new standards created a miniscule increase in the weight of all three denominations. The change in the change (lol - sorry) was virtually impossible to detect by sight or feel. Nevertheless, Congress felt it was necessary to mark these “heavier” weight coins with Arrows on both sides of the date. Designed by William Barber, the two arrows created a very desirable new “type” coin for the numismatic world. Among these was the 1873 CC Arrows Dime, the C4OA Coin of the Week.
With a total mintage of only 18,791, the 1873 CC Arrows Dime was destined from the beginning to become a rare coin. PCGS assigns the 1873 CC Arrows Dime a 7.7 rating on the Coin Facts Rarity Scale which estimates between 121 and 130 extant. With less than 1% or the original production remaining, this is a very tough coin to collect. In fact, excluding the unique 1873 CC No Arrows Dime, there are only two dates from the Carson City Dime series that are more difficult to collect, the 1871 CC Dime and 1874 CC Arrows Dime.
An easy internet search shows graded populations of 50 at PCGS, 34 at NGC and 54 at ANACS totaling 138 graded coins. Of course, the rather high dollar value of this coin makes it very likely that a certain percentage of the 138 are resubmissions. At the same time, a coin of this importance is unlikely to have many raw examples floating around outside of the known census. Taken together, these realities substantiate the 7.7 rating.
There is only one variety of the 1873 CC Arrows Dime which is also true for it’s two closest cousins, the 1873 CC No Arrows Dime and the 1874 CC Arrows Dime. Each of these three coins was struck with its own obverse die but with the exact same reverse die. The reverse die is from the second variety of the 1872 CC Dime and is easily diagnosed by the thin die crack running diagonally through the CC mint mark.
PCGS also gives us the following current price scale which matches up accurately with the auction prices on the C4OA web site.
G4 -$3,000 F12 -$6,500 VF30 -$11,000 EF40 -$19,000 MS65 -$275,000
NGC pricing shows slightly lower values than PCGS for most of these grades. But I am always amused by NGC price tables which show very precise values for grades where no actual known coin exists in either NGC or PCGS records. The founder of NGC must have been a Boy Scout – Be Prepared!
The specific 1873 CC Arrows Dime in the photographs is one of my favorite coins. This F 15 graded coin has original surfaces that have been slightly darkened by the natural patina of age. There are several old and minor dings and abrasions on the obverse that are consistent with its use in daily commerce and with the coin’s F 15 grade. Only two marks are worth mentioning for coin identity purposes but neither detracts from the great eye appeal this coin enjoys. One very old mark is high in the right, middle field level with Liberty’s knee and the other is a thin vertical scratch between the right shoulder and the pole.
The planchet was struck off-center by a tiny percentage but, overall, the strike is one of the coin’s best features. The deep, well protected areas within the shield lines provide the only remaining evidence of the coin’s original porosity which is so typical with Carson City minted coins. Except for the wear at the tip, the vertical and horizontal lines in the shield remain sharp as does every letter in LIBERTY. The date and arrows were well protected and the every one of the letters in the legend stands out proudly. The die state must have been early as there is no evidence of degeneration or broken tines in the lettering. A somewhat unique aspect found in the Carson City Dime series is that the obverse is frequently found to have the stronger grade of the two sides. The 1873 CC Arrows Dime in the PCGS F15 holder, exampled here is an excellent example of that characteristic.
The 1873 CC Arrows Dime is an endlessly interesting coin from an equally interesting time in our history. I hope you enjoyed my ten cents worth of the Carson City Coin of the Week.
Belay Off
C4OA Lifer!
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