1873-S $20 Open 3 MS(PCGS#8979)

December 2025 Showcase Auction - The James A. Stack, Sr. Collection Part I

Auktionator

Stack's Bowers

Losnummer

20038

Erhaltungsgrad

MS62

Preis

31.200

Losbeschreibung

With full, billowy mint luster and remarkably well preserved surfaces, it is little wonder that this is one of the finest 1873-S Open 3 twenties available in today's market. Lovely golden-apricot color blends nicely with a satiny texture. The strike detail is well above average for a Type II Liberty Head issue, all design elements boldly to sharply rendered. While some wispy handling marks preclude a higher Mint State grade, none are singularly distracting on surfaces that are particularly choice for this conditionally challenged issue.<p>The year 1873, the penultimate in which the San Francisco Mint operated at its first location on Commercial Street, brought great changes to United States coinage. The Philadelphia Mint dispatched obverse dies for the With Arrows dime, quarter and half dollar to San Francisco on March 12, to distinguish the new coinage authorized by the Act of February 12, 1873. The first dies for the new trade dollar followed on July 12, a coin that carried the hopes of its patrons on the West Coast seeking an outlet for the nation's increasing output of silver from the Comstock and other Western mines. For the double eagle, a new record mintage was almost set when the San Francisco Mint delivered 1,040,600 coins, a total greater than that of the previous year's San Francisco Mint delivery by more than a quarter-million pieces. During the 20-year period from 1854 through 1873, only the 1865-S has a (slightly) higher mintage at 1,042,500 pieces.<p>The mintage of the 1873-S includes examples of both the Close 3 and Open 3 date logotypes. Unlike in earlier years, most of these coins went immediately overseas in banking transactions, and many are the Mint State pieces that have come back to the United States, especially during the 1990s. Most of the Uncirculated survivors are the Close 3 variety, however, and Open 3 coins such as this are in the distinct minority in today's market. Tied for finest certified at the major third-party services, this is a significant Mint State coin that would serve as a focal point in any high quality double eagle set.<p>The San Francisco Mint moved into its new facility in 1874. This building, which still stands even though replaced itself by a new facility in 1937, is affectionately known as "The Granite Lady" and is the building that most people are referring to when they speak of the Old San Francisco Mint. The original structure at 608-610 Commercial Street has been rebuilt twice since 1874, most recently (after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire) as a one-story brick building. It is marked with a tablet as California Registered Landmark No. 87, but even so the first San Francisco Mint is all but forgotten both in its own city and throughout the United States. The coins it produced, however, are eagerly sought by numismatists who appreciate the rich history of this underappreciated branch mint and the scarcity of its coinage, especially in high grades.