1873 Seated Liberty Half Dollar, With Arrows
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 1,815,700 made
- Mintage
- 1,815,700
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 12.5 g
- Diameter
- 30.6 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is an 1873 Seated Liberty Half Dollar, With Arrows worth?
It's scarcer than a typical date, so even circulated examples sell above face and above their metal value. The best uncirculated coins are where the money is.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1873 Seated Liberty Half Dollar, With Arrows rare?
- Somewhat. 1,815,700 were made, fewer than most dates, so collectors treat it as a semi-key.
- Is the 1873 Seated Liberty Half Dollar, With Arrows silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.3617 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1873 Seated Liberty Half Dollar?
- On the reverse, below the eagle. Philadelphia halves have no mint mark.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1873 are scarcer?
- The 1873, No Arrows (Open 3) at 214,200, the 1868 at 418,200, the 1873, No Arrows at 587,000, plus 5 more. So the 1873 is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1873 Seated Liberty Half Dollar, With Arrows coins were made?
- 1,815,700.
What to check on your 1873
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Old coins pick up damage over a long life. Look for holes, bends, scratches or signs of cleaning before you judge the grade, because a damaged coin sells for a fraction of a problem-free one.
- Judge the grade under good light. LIBERTY on the shield is the benchmark for Fine. Check the high points of Liberty's knees and breast.
Never clean it. Collectors pay strong premiums for original surfaces and natural toning on a date like this. A cleaned coin can lose half its value or more.
The story of the 1873
Philadelphia ramped up hard in 1873: 1,815,700 coins, about 3.1 times the 1873 run. In 1874 the figure was 2.4 million.
It was the big producer of the year, well ahead of 1873-S (5,000) and 1873-CC (122,500) and 1873 (214,200) and 1873-CC (214,560) and 1873-S (228,000) and 1873 (587,000). In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1844 (1,766,000) and the 1876-CC (1,956,000).
Across Philadelphia's 56 Seated Liberty Half Dollar issues, the hardest to find is the 1882 with 4,400 made. The 1873 is one of the easier ones. Within the 1870s it's 23rd smallest of 32, between the 1877-CC (1.4 million) and the 1876-CC (2 million).
It also marks a change of metal: 1873 is the first year of the Seated Liberty Half Dollar in 90% silver, 10% copper, which lasted until 1891.
Arrows again and the silver flood (1873 to 1878)
Early 1873 halves without arrows come with closed 3 and open 3 dates. The 1873-S without arrows had a reported mintage of 5,000, but no example is known today. Once the Coinage Act of 1873 set the half at 12.5 grams, arrows were added beside the date for 1873 and 1874. The 1874-CC, with 59,000 struck, is the scarce coin of that type.
From 1875 to 1877 the Mint struck halves by the millions to retire fractional paper currency. These are the most common Seated halves and the easiest to find in mint state. The flood ended abruptly in 1878. San Francisco struck only 12,000 and Carson City 62,000 that year. The 1878-S is one of the major rarities of the series. The 1878-CC is scarce as well.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1873
The Coinage Act of 1873 ended the two-cent piece, the three-cent silver, the half dime and the standard silver dollar. It also created the trade dollar for commerce in Asia. Arrows were added beside the date of dimes, quarters and halves to mark a small weight change. Critics later called the act the "Crime of '73" for dropping the silver dollar.
How to recognize it
Liberty sits on a rock holding a shield inscribed LIBERTY and a pole topped with a liberty cap, with 13 stars around her and the date below. The reverse shows an eagle with HALF DOL. below. Arrows beside the date (1853 to 1855 and 1873 to 1874) and rays around the eagle (1853) mark weight changes and IN GOD WE TRUST appears above the eagle from 1866.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Seated Liberty Half Dollar (1839–1891) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1873 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 1,815,700 |
| Face value | 50¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 12.5 grams |
| Diameter | 30.6 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.3617 troy oz (11.250 g) |
| Designer | Christian Gobrecht |
Other 1873 Seated Liberty Half Dollar issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1873 Seated Liberty Half Dollar, No Arrows | 587,000 | Circulation strike | 0.3600 oz |
| 1873 Seated Liberty Half Dollar, No Arrows (Open 3) | 214,200 | Circulation strike | 0.3600 oz |
| 1873 Seated Liberty Half Dollar, With Arrows | 1,815,700 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
| 1873-S Seated Liberty Half Dollar, No Arrows | 5,000 | Circulation strike | 0.3600 oz |
| 1873-S Seated Liberty Half Dollar, With Arrows | 228,000 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
| 1873-CC Seated Liberty Half Dollar, No Arrows | 122,500 | Circulation strike | 0.3600 oz |
| 1873-CC Seated Liberty Half Dollar, With Arrows | 214,560 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
Mintage: United States half dollar mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.