1874-S Arrows

The 1874-S Arrows Seated Liberty Half Dollar is the second-year San Francisco issue of the brief Type 6 With Motto, Arrows at Date subtype, the two-year window that ran only through 1873 and 1874. The small arrowheads flanking the date were the Mint's plain-language signal that the Coinage Act of February 12, 1873 had nudged the half dollar's authorized struck weight from 12.44 grams to 12.50 grams, a recalibration meant to align United States subsidiary silver with metric weights favored in international commerce. San Francisco delivered 394,000 pieces against this standard, a modest figure shaped by Western trade patterns in which silver still moved heavily through mining-camp wages and Comstock supply. The 1874-S closes San Francisco's arrows-at-date chapter; the following year the facility returned to the Type 4 With Motto, no-arrows configuration that would carry the denomination through its final seventeen seasons.

Strike on the 1874-S typically runs softer than the contemporary Philadelphia issue, with predictable weakness on Liberty's head, the higher shield lines, and the eagle's right leg even on coins that show minimal honest circulation. The defining authentication diagnostic is dual confirmation of both arrowheads fully formed at the date paired with a struck weight at the new 12.50-gram standard, federal tolerance permitted plus or minus 0.2 grams, so a verified specimen registering in the 12.30 to 12.70-gram range is consistent with the post-April 1873 recalibration, while a lightweight planchet sitting nearer the older 12.44-gram standard is an immediate disqualifier. Examine the S mintmark above the wreath bow under magnification: a genuine San Francisco punch shows clean serifs, even depth, and a font alignment consistent with documented 1874-S die positions, while added mintmarks typically betray tooling marks or a raised collar of disturbed metal at the base. Grade distribution skews to circulated survivors, with Very Fine through Extremely Fine the dominant band; certified About Uncirculated and Mint State examples thin sharply, and uneven flatness paired with mushy rims often signals cleaning or a struck counterfeit on a lightweight host.

For the full design arc, including the 1853 Arrows weight reduction, the 1866 motto addition, and the 1873 recalibration that this two-year subtype announces, see the Seated Liberty Half Dollar series history. Updated 2026-04-25.