One feature of the 1873 U.S. coins is that the date has an open and closed 3. The closed 3 came first. On some coins that date was quite small, and when mint officials looked at it, the closed 3 looked like an "8." That prompted them to modify the number up with the open 3. Here are examples of each on 1873 Indian Cents. The Closed 3 is slightly scarcer on the Indian Cent I had trouble getting the close-up to work, so I changed it to B&W. Here is the open 3. The open 3 close up I had both types when I built an Indian Cent Set when I was in high school and college, so I decided to do it again. The Open 3 cent was one of my FUN purchases.
Your knowledge and your collection is amazing, I gotta ask since you have such an nice size collection, I've been amazed by the bar copper cent from 1785, do you have one? Here's one on the bay asking $28,500, pics below! Oh, and if anyone else here has one, feel free to post a pic!
No, I don't have a Bar Cent. I dabble with coins in 1780s; I'm not that much of a serious of a collector for that period.
Thank you. As always I'm amazed at your knowledge and your collection. I didn't know the reason for the 2 types, but it certainly makes sense, now. I had trouble finding the closed 3, but finally got both of them. Mine aren't near as nice as yours though, lol.
