1873 Open 3

Chief Coiner A.L. Snowden put his complaint in writing on January 18, 1873, telling Mint Director James Pollock that the date punches Engraver William Barber had cut the previous November were unacceptable. The knobs of Barber's 3 sat so close together that the digit could be mistaken for an 8 once it appeared in the field of a struck coin. Pollock ordered new logotypes with clearly separated upper and lower arms, and the Philadelphia Mint quietly transitioned mid-year. The result is the Open 3 variety of the 1873 Double Eagle, struck for the larger remainder of the calendar from replacement punches that resolved Snowden's legibility complaint and produced the date format that defines this entry, CK-6510.

The combined Philadelphia output of 1,709,825 pieces is divided between the two date styles, with the Open 3 representing the larger share since it was used for most of the year's production. PCGS estimates roughly 12,500 survivors across all grades for the Open 3 specifically, with about 3,000 in Mint State and a single MS65+ piece sitting at the top of the population report. That finest-known coin, graded PCGS MS65, realized $112,125 at Heritage Auctions on January 5, 2011, and has not been publicly offered since. NGC census data through recent reports shows several thousand certified examples, with a similar concentration through AU58 and a steep falloff above MS62.

Strike on Philadelphia Type 2 Double Eagles of this era tends to be sharper than the contemporary San Francisco product, with clean stars, well-defined hair detail, and full reverse motto definition typical for properly preserved Open 3 examples. Surfaces often carry the satiny luster characteristic of Longacre's design when struck on fresh dies. For the variety premium to apply, the holder must explicitly read "Open 3" on the PCGS or NGC label, since raw or generically slabbed pieces trade at common-date money. For the broader context behind the Coronet Head program, the With Motto reverse, and the long arc of the denomination from 1849 through 1907, see the Liberty Head Double Eagle series history.