1873-CC No Arrows 50c - CC Coin of the Week 1/16/2011

A Lame Duck Classic

The subject of a recent posting on the C4OA web site had to do with the famous case of the 1933 Double Eagle. I read about the coin in a book entitled "Illegal Tender" by David Tripp. While the case of the 1933 Double Eagle has absolutely nothing to do with the 1873-CC No Arrows, Half Dollar, the two coins have one interesting similarity...they were both lame duck classics.

The 1933 Double Eagle should never have been minted. Weeks prior to the coin and it's brethren actually being produced, President Roosevelt had decreed private ownership of gold to be illegal, except for certain collectable rarities. The saga of this great numismatic rarity was begun when the boys making the laws in Washington D.C. forgot to tell the boys making the coins in Philadelphia to stop!

Like the 1933 Double Eagle, the 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollar was functionally obsolete well before the blank planchets were stamped with its image. All through 1872, new and complex coin legislation had been in the making which would radically change silver coinage in the United States. As early as May, 1872, all 67 sections of the new coinage act had been debated, negotiated, tweaked and written up.

Despite the enormity of the changes contemplated by this legislation, some historians write that very few politicians knew much about it before being signed into law on February 12, 1873. However, the Director of the Mint, as well as the upper tier mint executives in his employ, would have been deeply involved in this process. In fact, I am willing to bet that mint records would show that new obverse and reverse dies for 1873 "Arrows" coinage had been designed and produced many months before the end of 1872.

The point is, by the time the calendar flipped over to 1873, there was almost no reason to produce the 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollar, the Carson City Coin of the Week. Perhaps the only reason this coins exists at all is because the boys making the laws in Washington D.C failed to coordinate with the boys making the coin dies in Philadelphia. Instead of conserving labor, materials and shipping costs by recognizing the impending obsolescence of the 1873 No Arrows Half Dollar dies (and those for the No Arrows Dimes and Quarters), the Director of the Mint did nothing to stop their shipment to the branch mints, including the four obverse dies sent to Carson City.

One might suggest that the mintage of outmoded, No Arrows Half Dollars in the early months 1873 was because Director Linderman was unsure whether President Grant would sign the bill. However, this excuse is likely debunked by the record which tells us that * "When presented to President Grant, he promptly signed it (the Act) into law". Logic tells us that Director Linderman would have reported directly to the President on the progress of this new coinage legislation all through 1872. Surely, his boss would have made Linderman well ware of his views.

*Wikipedia

Controversial Mintage Totals

Upon receipt of the 1873 No Arrows Half Dollar obverse dies at the Carson City mint in November of 1872, the delivery apparently did not include instructions from the Mint Director to hold off on production of this already obsolete coinage. Accordingly, 12,400 1873-CC No Arrows Dimes, 4,000 1873-CC No Arrows Quarters and 22,000 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollars were minted. Most were immediately bagged and stored in the basement vault, awaiting an imminent trip back to the melting pots...all except for a single dime, a handful of quarters and a larger number of No Arrows Half Dollars which were released into circulation.

In his preeminent historical reference book, The Mint On Carson Street, Rusty Goe describes todays ongoing controversy about the published mintage total of 122,500 of 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollars. Rusty postulates several reasons why this total is likely too large. First and foremost is the strange Carson City mint record entry which indicates that 100,500 of the 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollars were minted in March of 1873. This huge production total does not make sense for several reasons.

One reason, as discussed in The Mint on Carson Street, is that most every previous month's production of half dollars totaled half the 100,500 alleged total for March 1873. With no obvious new demand, why the big spike in half dollar coinage? In the following paragraph, I point out the other, rather obvious reason for doubting the validity of the 100,500 mintage of 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollars in March, 1873.

Earlier, I poked fun at Mint Director Linderman for spending time and money producing and shipping the 1873 No Arrows dies just before one of the largest, mass coinage design and weight changes in the U.S. Mint's 81 year history was about to go into effect. If this action seems wasteful, how much sense can we make of the alleged production of 100,500, 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollars in March of 1873, a month AFTER the new Coinage Act was signed into law by President Grant?

Rice Circulates Obsolete Coinage - Why?

We CC enthusiasts know all about the single extant example of the 1873-CC No Arrows Dime. It's the rarest of all Carson City coins with the 1873-CC No Arrows Quarter not far behind. These few No Arrows coins, out of thousands minted, were all that survived the melting pot. None of these two denominations were officially released into circulation. This brings up yet another question. Why were some, or perhaps all, of the first batch of 22,000, 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollars released into the public domain when the No Arrows Dimes and No Arrows Quarters were not?

One answer might be that half dollars were in greater demand. They were used very frequently as the exchange medium for many business transactions. Also, the half dollar was the specified coin to be paid out in exchange for gold deposits when silver specie was requested by the gold depositor. These reasons created a practical demand for half dollars as the work horse coin, even over the silver dollar.

This point is quite evident when comparing the mintage totals of half dollars verses silver dollars at the Carson City mint from 1870 through 1873. Compared to the total mintage of all types of CC silver dollars (Liberty Seated Dollars and Trade Dollars) during these four years, FOUR times as many CC half dollars were minted. When we exclude the single years production of Trade Dollars (124,500 in 1873) from this comparison, half dollar production is FORTY times greater than Liberty Silver Dollar production during the same period.

The Closed "3" Problem

There is also a practical reason (believe it or not) why Superintendant Rice released 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollars while holding back the No Arrows Dimes and Quarters. This potential reason concerns the closed "3" in the date of all three denominations. In all 1873-CC No Arrows Dimes, Quarters and Halves, the stylistic balls at the end of the upper and lower loops of the "3" are fairly close together, but not actually touching. Because the date on the dime and quarter is much smaller than on the half dollar, the "3" was easily mistaken for an "8".

The problem was corrected on all three denominations of 1873 "With Arrows" coinage when die engravers gave these later coins more space between the end loops of the "3". This "Open 3" is found on all 1873-CC With Arrows Half Dollars, Quarters and Dimes.

Collecting 1873-CC No Arrows Halves in the 21st Century

Today, PCGS estimates more than 200 examples of the 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollar remain for our collecting enjoyment. Only about a third of the extant population is certified by PCGS or NGC. Of these, 12 coins have been certified as uncirculated inclusive of the two major services. The balance can be found graded all the way down to Fair - 2, though most are bunched up between XF and AU-55.

As frequently is the case, the published census figures of the two major certification services do not agree. Example: Both PCGS and NGC show they have certified one MS-67 example each. Both services also report they have each graded one coin at MS-66. PCGS alone lists one MS-65 example of the 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollar. Lets see... 2 plus 2 plus 1 equals 5, right? Apparently not because PCGS reports that only 4 examples of this date exist in MS-65 or higher.

Apparently MS-67 Does Not Make the Grade

Another rather telling point this writer finds humorous is the fact that both services have made a big deal about adding a second tier, PLUS designation to each and every grade level. In fact, NGC has both PLUS and STAR designations. Apparently, however, the two MONSTER examples of the 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollar graded a mind boggling MS-67, one by PCGS and the other NGC, are not worthy since neither coin is given a star nor a plus designation.

OK, I could understand such pickiness if there were 50 examples of this date graded MS-67, but please...there are only two in existence for goodness sakes!!!! If these two ultra rarities are not automatically considered PLUS coins then what the hell is?

Superintendent Rices decision to release a substantial number of the 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollars provides us with a unique and fairly collectable Carson City coin. Auction archives from 2010 show an F-2 selling for $172, a very nice VF-20 was purchased for $1,782, a pair of XF-40 examples sold for just under $2,000, while a recent AU-55 example found a buyer at $7,450.

Two coins graded MS-66 by PCGS sold in the same month, ten years ago. This is interesting since PCGS indicates they have graded only one example of the 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollar as MS-66. This oddity might explained by the substantial price variant between the two sales. One brought $46,000 while the other fetched a whopping $69,000 hammer price! Perhaps the $69,000 coin was very obviously a higher quality piece, ultimately re-graded as one of today's two MS-67 examples?

Bugert Describes Variety Details

In Bill Bugerts Carson City Volume of the Register of Liberty Seated Half Dollars, he describes the various nuances of the 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollar in great detail, including the differences between this date's two varieties. His narrative is backed up by excellent photo plates which clearly show that the date on one variety is shifted much farther to the right than the other and also has a repunched "1". All 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollars are found with a very small "CC" mint marks which are placed high in their assigned field.

The saga of the 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollar proves once again that while many Carson City coins can be quite rare, the controversies and mysteries surrounding these coins and their mintage totals are common place. For this CC enthusiast, these challenging enigmas are half the fun!


Belay Off

Belay Off,

With Carson City coins there are often stories behind stories, and you always do a good job in presenting us with intellectual challenges.

We might not ever discover answers to questions about actual mintage figures, how many examples of a certain date are extant, and how many Mint State coins PCGS and NGC have graded, but we'll have fun searching for them. It's obvious that you certainly do.

You wrote:

As frequently is the case, the published census figures of the two major certification services do not agree. Example: Both PCGS and NGC show they have certified one MS-67 example each. Both services also report they have each graded one coin at MS-66. PCGS alone lists one MS-65 example of the 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollar.

The truth is, unless someone can show evidence otherwise, there is one 1873-CC Without Arrows half graded MS-67 and one graded MS-65, for both PCGS and NGC combined.

The top example, the famous Garrett specimen, first came to prominence in Bowers and Ruddy's 1979 sale of that notable collection. David Bowers, the cataloguer, described the 1873-CC Without Arrows half as "just a whisper from being given a full MS-70 ... an incredible coin." The coin sold for $30,000, the equivalent to about $92,000 in 2011. It subsequently received an MS-66 grade from both PCGS and NGC. Waldo E. "Pat" Bolen bought it to add to his complete (yes he had the Without Arrows dime too) set of 1873-CC coins. He sold this set in Heritage's Central States auction in April 1999. The 1873-CC Without Arrows half, then in a PCGS MS-66 holder brought $69,000. In November 2000, Heritage sold the same coin for $46,000 in its Santa Clara, CA auction.

In 2002, PCGS upgraded the Garrett-Bolen 1873-CC Without Arrows half to MS-67. The dealer who received the upgrade offered me the coin for $125,000. I passed. I assume it was at one time crossed over to NGC.

So you see, PCGS lists the coin twice, once as an MS-66 and once as an MS-67. Ditto for NGC. One coin, four listings between the two services. I have not heard anything about this coin for a number of years. I don't think it would receive a + from either PCGS or NGC—The MS-67 upgrade gave the coin its deserved status.

The second finest known 1873-CC Without Arrows half is graded MS-65 by PCGS. It came out of the Stack's Queller sale in October 2002. The price realized was $63,250. It currently belongs to a 21st century rival to Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. I'm confident PCGS or NGC would award this piece with a + if it was submitted to them.

Besides the two amazing coins mentioned above, there are about 7-9 other examples in grades MS-61 to MS-64 between PCGS and NGC (I don't know about Mint State populations of this date for ANACS, ICG, SEGS, Dominion, or any other service).

I'm glad to see you are having so much fun writing your COTW postings. You inspire everyone else to enjoy the thrill of the investigative process.

Rusty

Wow Belay...you certainly do your investigative homework! This is simply a great post and sheds new light on the subject of 1873...1873-CC...and the "Crime of 1873". From what you have uncovered here, there was obviously some manner of trickery going on concerning this without arrows issue.

I certainly would love to see one of those 1873-CC without arrows half dollar MS-67/MS-65 pieces live and in person, but for now, the photo you've provided displays a very handsome example indeed

Great info like this usually costs plenty of bucks if you can even find this in any book....here at the C4OA Blogsite...it's free!

Great job Belay Off!

"The point is, by the time the calendar flipped over to 1873, there was almost no reason to produce the 1873-CC No Arrows Half Dollar, the Carson City Coin of the Week. Perhaps the only reason this coins exists at all is because the boys making the laws in Washington D.C failed to coordinate with the boys making the coin dies in Philadelphia."

Maybe the only reason was as simple as keeping the employees and the machinery busy? There was definitely some political basis for hiring various employees, so the mint director would have as much allegiance to his hires as he would the powers in Philadelphia. He probably was not informed by email that President Grant signed the new coinage act, so he could have plead ignorance if he claimed that the order missed the latest pony express shipment. It seems plausible. :laugh:

Great job Belay, Seems like Washington today is very similar to Washington of yesteryear regarding the mints. Studying this series is so much fun. Thanks Belay for such an informative post.

Loosechange

Carsonite,

Wow! Your reply was twice as intriguing as the article! When I was writing the piece about the 1873-CC No Arrows, I instinctively knew that many of the questions I was posing were no mystery to you and those C4OA members with decades of experience. Consequently, your detailed reply and historical over view on this subject was the perfect counterpoint to my article.

I am not surprised to learn there may only be one MS-65 and one MS-67 example of this date. I can't help but be a little disappointed in the certification services for not willingly tracking some of the "more obvious" re-certifications. As time goes on, the accuracy and ultimately, the numismatic value of the PCGS and NGC population censuses will simply become more and more diluted unless something is done to correct this system.

Thank you sincerely for providing us with this important background and perspective.

Belay Off