1873 No Arrows, Closed 3

The 1873 No Arrows Closed 3 is the first half of a split-year quarter production at Philadelphia, struck before the Coinage Act of February 12, 1873 changed the legal weight standard and forced the Mint to add arrows beside the date to mark the new heavier planchet. The Closed 3 designation refers to the date punch used in the early dies, where the upper and lower knobs of the 3 nearly touch and the digit reads as compact rather than open. The No Arrows form follows the standard 1866 through 1873 With Motto design, with the IN GOD WE TRUST banner above Christian Gobrecht's seated figure of Liberty and the heraldic eagle reverse, struck on a 6.22 gram planchet under the older 1853 weight standard. The combined 1873 Philadelphia mintage of 1,271,700 covers both the pre-Arrows and With Arrows production for the year.

Authentication centers on the date and the reverse rather than the mintmark. Examine the digit 3 in the date carefully to confirm the Closed 3 form, and verify the absence of arrowheads on either side of the date. The Coinage Act of February 12, 1873 raised the quarter weight from 6.22 to 6.25 grams, a small but legally meaningful change, and the Mint added the arrows to distinguish the new heavier coins from the lighter pre-Act pieces. Pre-Arrows examples saw the standard Philadelphia distribution channels but did not face widespread melting, unlike the much smaller 1873-CC No Arrows production. Strike quality is generally clean, with most surviving coins grading Very Good through Extremely Fine and a reasonable supply of Mint State examples concentrated at MS62 through MS64.

The 1873 No Arrows Closed 3 is the affordable Philadelphia entry into the 1873 transition story, available in circulated grades at moderate four-figure prices and in Mint State at meaningful premiums. Type collectors building the With Motto subtype set sometimes target this date because it shows the design in its final pre-Arrows form, and series specialists work toward the No Arrows / With Arrows pair as a single 1873 acquisition project. Prices have held steady over the past decade in circulated grades and trended upward at the gem level. For the broader story of Gobrecht's design, the 1873 Coinage Act, and the series' production arc, see the Seated Liberty Quarter series history.