1873 Indian Head Cent
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 11,676,500 made
- Mintage
- 11,676,500
- Metal
- 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc
- Weight
- 3.11 g
- Diameter
- 19 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is an 1873 Indian Head Cent worth?
Age alone gives this coin a small premium, even worn. Sharp details and original surfaces push it higher.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- Full red copper color (labeled RD) rather than brown
- A die variety or minting error
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1873 Indian Head Cent rare?
- Not by date: 12 million were struck. A sharp uncirculated coin or a known variety is what makes one special.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1873 Indian Head Cent?
- No mint mark. Philadelphia struck every Indian cent until 1908.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1873 are scarcer?
- The 1877 at 852,500, the 1871 at 3,929,500, the 1872 at 4,042,000, plus 5 more. So the 1873 is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1873 Indian Head Cent coins were made?
- 11,676,500.
What to check on your 1873
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Proof or circulation strike? A proof has mirror-like fields and frosted design details and was sold to collectors, not released in change. The 1873 Indian Head Cent Proof (1,100 made) is the one to compare with.
- Old coins pick up damage over a long life. Look for holes, bends, scratches or signs of cleaning before you judge the grade, because a damaged coin sells for a fraction of a problem-free one.
- Judge the grade under good light. In Very Fine, all five letters of LIBERTY on the headband are visible; collectors also look at the feather tips and the "diamonds" on the ribbon. Color is graded too: Red (RD), Red-Brown (RB) and Brown (BN).
The story of the 1873
Philadelphia made 11,676,500 in 1873, up from 4 million in 1872. In 1874 the figure was 14 million.
No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1873 you find is from Philadelphia.
Across Philadelphia's 52 Indian Head Cent issues, the hardest to find is the 1877 with 852,500 made. The 1873 is on the scarcer side of the middle. Within the 1870s it's 7th smallest of 10, between the 1876 (7.9 million) and the 1875 (14 million).
Open 3, Closed 3 and the rare 1877 (1873 to 1878)
Early 1873 cents used a date punch where the knobs of the 3 nearly touch, which looked too much like an 8. The Mint switched to an Open 3 later in the year. The Closed 3 also produced a scarce doubled LIBERTY variety. Production climbed above 14 million in 1874, then the long slump that followed the Panic of 1873 cut demand.
The 1877 is the key date of the series, with only 852,500 coined at a time when the Treasury held a surplus of minor coins and business was weak. It has been widely counterfeited, often by reshaping the last digit of an 1879 or another date, so authentication matters. The 1878 recovered only to about 5.8 million. Most survivors from these years are brown and circulated. Many 1877 cents have been cleaned or damaged, so problem free examples are especially sought after.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1873
The Coinage Act of 1873 ended the two-cent piece, the three-cent silver, the half dime and the standard silver dollar. It also created the trade dollar for commerce in Asia. Arrows were added beside the date of dimes, quarters and halves to mark a small weight change. Critics later called the act the "Crime of '73" for dropping the silver dollar.
How to recognize it
Liberty wears a feathered headdress with LIBERTY on the band, surrounded by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA with the date below. The 1859 reverse is a laurel wreath around ONE CENT; from 1860 an oak wreath with a small shield at the top was used. Coins from 1864 on are bronze and from partway through 1864 they show the designer's initial L on the ribbon behind Liberty's neck. Mint marks (only S, 1908 and 1909) are below the wreath on the reverse.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Indian Head Cent (1859–1909) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1873 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 11,676,500 |
| Face value | 1¢ |
| Composition | 95% copper, 5% tin and zinc (bronze) |
| Weight | 3.11 grams |
| Diameter | 19 mm |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | James B. Longacre |
Other 1873 Indian Head Cent issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1873 Indian Head Cent | 11,676,500 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1873 Indian Head Cent Proof | 1,100 | Proof | – |
Mintage: United States cent mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.