Awe-Inspiring 1873 Open 3 Gold Dollar
1873 Gold Dollar. Open 3. MS-67 (NGC).
As the single finest example of this issue currently certified by NGC, the significance of this coin for advanced gold type or date purposes can hardly be overestimated. It is a beautiful Superb Gem, both sides with blushes of reddish-rose patina to a base of warm, deep golden-orange color. The design elements are fully rendered, satiny in texture, and set against a backdrop of semi-reflectivity in the fields. Carefully preserved to match its expert production, this virtually pristine example is worthy of the strongest bids. Withdrawn from circulation in the East and Midwest early in the Civil War, mintages for the gold dollar at the Philadelphia Mint plummeted after 1862 and remained low for most years through the series' end in 1889. During and immediately after the War, what few coins were struck were produced at the request of bullion depositors, and largely for use in the export trade. In the eastern parts of the country, these coins were available only at a premium in paper money (more than $2 in Legal Tender "greenbacks" per gold dollar in the summer of 1865, for example), the sellers being banks, bullion brokers, and the United States Treasury Department itself. The years 1873 and 1874, however, saw a sudden and, as it turned out, temporary increase in the production of gold dollars for commercial use at the Philadelphia Mint. Among the many provisions of the Act of February 12, 1873, was the requirement to "renovate" the nation's gold coin situation with regard to pieces that had lost some of their intrinsic and, by extension, face value due to wear. In the Annual Report of the Director of the Mint for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1874, Mint Director James Pollock commented: It seems a remarkable omission in our laws, that there is no limit at which our coins shall cease to be legal tender on account of wear. In England, the sovereign, or pound sterling, is not legally current when it has lost more than half a grain....It has not been a serious trouble in this country from the fact that our coin is so apt to be exported. And yet it makes difficulty at the Customs Houses and national treasuries, as we have had occasion to know. The collectors and treasurers hardly know what they are to do when coins much abraded are offered to them. In some sections where gold is much used, as on the Pacific Coast and in the extreme southwest, the wear is very marked. The relevant provisions in the Act of 1873, however, gave Pollock some hope in the government's ability to rectify this situation. By its terms, the Mint destroyed $32,717,185.50 in worn gold coins, mostly from Treasury Department stocks. These coins had sustained a loss in value of $193,568.90, or 0.017% of face value, and their destruction prompted Pollock to write: "The renovation of the gold coins is now about complete, except as to the light or worn pieces in circulation in the Pacific Coast states and territories; and if some provision were made for their withdrawal, the entire gold coinage would then be in good condition." Bullion recovered from the melted pieces was recoined into new gold issues. Today's gold type collectors can certainly be thankful for this chain of events, since this recoinage of melted pieces resulted in the unusually high mintages of 125,100 and 198,800 circulation strikes for the 1873 and 1874 gold dollar issues, respectively. Despite the special provision in the Coinage Act of 1873, specie payments remained in suspension in the East and Midwest, and even if examples had been paid out at face value the popularity that the gold dollar enjoyed in circulation during the early years of the California Gold Rush was long gone by the 1870s. Mintages fell off again beginning in 1875 (steeply that year, in fact, when only 400 circulation strikes were delivered), and the series was discontinued in 1889. With its relatively generous mintage for the era, the 1873 now numbers among the more readily available Type III gold dollars. All but 1,800 of the coins struck are of the Open 3 date style, as here, and this is the variety that holds particular appeal for type purposes. Collectors seeking the finest in technical quality and aesthetic appeal will have to compete vigorously for the honor of securing this Superb Gem example in NGC MS-67, however, for at this exceptional level of preservation the 1873 Open 3 gold dollar is a formidable condition rarity.
PCGS# 7573. NGC ID: 25DB.
NGC Census: 1; 0 finer. The corresponding PCGS Population is 2/1 (MS-68 finest).