1873 Closed 3 Indiand Head

oops half asleep when I posted, so here I go. please grade this 1873 closed 3 Indian head. I just received it in the mail yesterday.

I don't like the surfaces of the obverse.

And i'll be the first to point out the broken hub on the D in UNITED. Collectors of higher grade indians prefer the D to be intact, but there are allegedly some people who look for the broken D's on a bunch of these earlier dates, although I haven't actually found someone who seeks these out yet.

Ok now I have to take it to a dealer and see what he says

Thanks for your input ,I just want you to know that I am in the learning stage and will continue to educate myself from this website, books and visiting coin dealers. I thought I did good on this coin from the picture I was looking at when I was bidding on it. up until I posted it in this room and you guys started to point out flaws that I did not know nor see in the picture. I went today and visited a coin dealer that I have bought coins from the past and told him my story. He got a kick from hearing about you guys grading the coin but I didn't tell him what you guys said until after he got done telling me about his observation.

Here is what he said. 1) the coin has been cleaned, 2) there is no solid diamond in the ribbon detail, 3) the D on united is not complete. However it's still a nice looking coin

1) about the cleaning he said that it looks like it happened about 30 years ago. it wasn't from any known chemical how it was cleaned but he has seen the method before. It was done by an eraser and it wasn't the eraser that wore out parts of the coin at all.( the coin dealer has been in business for over 30 plus years)


2)& 3) The reason there was no diamond on the ribbon and the D wasn't complete was because it was a weak strike. He then brought out books and his nice looking Indian head collection, showed me key points "liberty" and "diamond on the ribbon. By the way he told me to tell you guys you did good for pointing these things out for just having a picture.

after all said and done this is the final grade of the coin.It should have been a VF but he gave my coin a "F" grading only because of the cleaning. He said that is how he would sell it in his store and he is hard on Indian heads because they are his favorite. also, I should not bother getting this coin slabbed and a better one will come my way.


I didn't lose too much money on this coin but gained a valuable lesson and still have at least a $60.00 coin. I'm so depressed I'm going back to the coin dealer and buying another coin.

So did you get beat up very bad price wise?

upstate I ended up buying the coin for $110.00. Having it a 1873 closed 3 was my interest of a good date Indian head. I never thought it was cleaned or saw flaws. I myself was putting the coin a very high VF which allowed me to have a bit more room to bid. I also considered the pricing of getting it slabbed and I factor that into my price. my highest for the coin itself was $115.00 then I had to walk away if it got higher.so all said and done the price of the coin $110.00 and having a final grade of a "F" the coin is now $60.00 with my loss of $50.00.

that is a heck of a first coin for your kid.

i'd say about half of those early 1870's Indians, at least those VF and below, have problems. the problem-free ones go for a premium, so they make the ones with problems look like even better deals.