1874 Arrows

The 1874 Arrows Philadelphia dime is the second and final calendar year of the Arrows weight-change subtype that the Coinage Act of February 12, 1873 introduced to mark the dime's small weight increase from 2.49 to 2.50 grams. Philadelphia delivered 2,940,000 pieces during 1874, the largest single-year Arrows mintage across the brief two-year run, with all production carrying the small horizontal arrows flanking the date. After this calendar year, the arrows were dropped and the dime returned to a plain date for the balance of the Legend No Motto run through 1891. Subtype mechanics keep the "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" obverse legend introduced in 1860 and continue the wreath reverse without modification, with weight at the post-Act 2.50-gram standard on a 90 percent silver planchet.

Strike quality on the 1874 Arrows reads as steady working Philadelphia output, with the arrow pellets and date numerals generally sharp and the wreath leaves and bow knot adequately impressed on most surviving examples. The Coinage Act of February 12, 1873 also reduced the legal-tender status of silver coins broadly, leaving the dime as the principal small-change denomination once the silver three-cent piece and the half dime were retired. Survival concentrates in Very Good through Extremely Fine, the working band where the coin moved through commerce into the late nineteenth century, with About Uncirculated examples reasonably available and Mint State coins surfacing in usable numbers through MS-63 before turning condition-scarce in the upper grades. Authentication runs through three checks: the 2.50-gram post-Act weight, the 17.9-millimeter reeded edge, and the small horizontal arrows positioned tightly to the left and right of the date. The Wiley-Bugert reference catalogs the year's working die marriages, with date and arrow placement serving as the standard attribution markers.

For a date-and-mint Seated Dime set, the 1874 Arrows reads as the workhorse Arrows-subtype representative alongside the 1873, accessible in worn grades and a reasonable target in Extremely Fine and About Uncirculated. Pricing tracks generic Seated dime levels through Very Fine, runs to modest premiums in Extremely Fine and About Uncirculated, and steps up firmly in Mint State where condition rarity carries the price rather than mintage scarcity. The Regular classification matches the market reality across the worn grades. For the broader story of Gobrecht's design, the 1873 Coinage Act, and the Carson City Mint, see the Seated Liberty Dime series history.