1873 $3 Open 3 (Proof)

David Akers (1975/88): This variety is generally considered to be the only original three dollar gold piece of 1873, but as I indicated in my comments on the 1873 Closed 3 business strike, I feel that this is in error. In his monograph, Walter Breen claims that the 1873 Open 3 in the ANS Collection must be an original since the ANS pieces were donated by J.P. Morgan, who obtained his coins from R. C. Brock, who had acquired them from the Philadelphia Mint in the year of issue. Actually, this would merely prove that the 1873 open 3 was minted in 1873, not necessarily that it was minted prior to the Closed 3 variety, or that the Closed 3 variety was minted after 1873. If this is the case, then technically speaking, there may be no restrikes of the 1873, since in the strictest sense a restrike is a coin that was minted in a year later than its date. It is indeed possible, and in fact it is my opinion, that all 1873 three dollar gold pieces were minted in 1873, and that all the Closed 3 pieces were minted first. Whatever the case, however, it is obvious from the auction data that the 1873 Open 3 three dollar gold piece is a great rarity. In fact, except for the unique 1870-S, it had the fewest number of auction appearances in our 238 catalogue survey of any coin in the series and has appeared at auction only one fourth as often as the highly publicized and high priced 1875.