1873 10C No Arrows, Closed 3 PR66 认证号48541030, PCGS号4766

Ron Guth

In the first part of 1873, Philadelphia Mint employees struck Dimes in the same format in which they had been issuing them since the start of the Legend Obverse design in 1860.  Also, they struck Proof versions to the tune of 1,000 pieces.  All of these Dimes had Closed 3s.  Later in 1873, a new Dime appeared as the result of statutory changes in the weights of the silver U.S. coins.  To show the change at a glance, Mint engravers added arrowhead on either side of the date on the new Dimes.  These became known as the With Arrows type.  Mint employees struck 800 of the new With Arrows Dimes, giving collectors an opportunty to purchase one or both types of this year.

Survival rates of the two types match the original mintage, which means that the With Arrows Proofs are slightly less common than the No Arrows Proofs.  However, Deep Cameo examples are virtually non-existent for the With Arrows Dimes -- the reason for this is unkown, but may have to do with the hastiness in which new dies were prepared.  Most Proof 1873 With Arrows Dimes are PR63 to PR64.  Gems are rare and PCGS has yet to grade an example above PR65.  Cameo Proofs represent approximately 20 percent of the total population, though that ratio may change as some of the older PCGS-graded examples are re-examined (PCGS did not use Cameo and Deep Cameo designations in their early years).