1873-CC No Arrows

The 1873-CC No Arrows is one of the major rarities of the Carson City Seated half dollar series and one of the toughest issues in any United States silver denomination. Carson City struck 122,500 halves under the old 12.44 gram standard before the Coinage Act of February 12, 1873 raised subsidiary silver weight to 12.50 grams. The act took effect April 1, and new dies showing arrows beside the date arrived at the branch to mark the heavier weight; the branch then added 214,560 With Arrows pieces under the new standard, for a combined 1873-CC half dollar delivery of 337,060 across both subtypes. Treasury recalled and melted older-weight stock aggressively, and the surviving No Arrows population today sits at roughly 200 to 300 pieces across all grades, placing this date alongside 1870-CC and 1871-CC among the absolute toughest issues in the Carson City silver series.

Authentication begins with the date area on the obverse. The No Arrows variety must show only the four bare date digits, with no arrowheads flanking the date; the Arrows variety is a separate issue catalogued under its own slug, so any 1873-CC half offered with arrows is not this coin. The second diagnostic is weight. A genuine No Arrows piece weighs 12.44 grams under the pre-act standard, and any 1873-CC half lacking arrows that weighs the post-act 12.50 grams is either misidentified or altered. Third, inspect the CC mintmark below the eagle on the reverse for two cleanly punched C's of matching height and serif weight; added-mintmark fakes built from common Philadelphia 1873 No Arrows halves are the standard alteration risk on this date, and any CC that looks soldered, tooled at the base, or oddly tilted relative to the tail feathers should be rejected. Given the survivor count and price level, certification by PCGS or NGC is mandatory before any meaningful sum changes hands.

Demand is broad because the 1873-CC No Arrows answers three different collector groups at once: date collectors of the Seated half series, Carson City type collectors, and specialists in the brief No Arrows transitional issues of 1873. PCGS and NGC populations are concentrated in Good through Fine, with Very Fine genuinely difficult, Extremely Fine and choice About Uncirculated true condition rarities, and Mint State limited to a handful of survivors that have realized six-figure prices when offered. Raw pieces priced below the certified market should be assumed problematic until proven otherwise. For full date-by-date production figures and the Carson City era in context, see the Seated Liberty Half Dollar series history.