1873 Indian Cent. Close 3. MS-66 RB (NGC). CAC. A fully struck, satiny Gem with an inviting blend of original mint orange color and iridescent brown toning. The mintage of 11,676,500 pieces for the circulation strike 1873 is divided between Close 3 and Open 3 examples. The former were struck from dies prepared before Chief Coiner Archibald Lowden Snowdens letter of January 18, 1873, to Mint Director Henry R. Linderman in which the chief coiner asserted that the close 3 date logotype was easily mistaken for 1878. Although no official record exists on the exact number of each variety produced, the 1873 Close 3 is scarcer and has an estimated mintage of 2,500,000 pieces (per Q. David Bowers, 2006 and Rick Snow, 2014). Gems such as this are in the distinct minority among survivors and represent a significant find whenever an example is offered.
