ABOUT THAT 1873-CC NO ARROWS DIME Público Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 25, June 20, 2003, Article 4
ABOUT THAT 1873-CC NO ARROWS DIME
Scott Rubin writes: "About the 1873-CC No Arrows Dime -
I wrote an article which appeared in Bowers and Merena's
Rare Coin Review and I think reprinted in the Eliasberg
Catalogue along with the Quarter. In the article I mention that
the 19th century Randall Sale contained such a dime. At the
time of Heaton's book on mint marked coinage he did not
consider this coin to be unique which at the time lead me to
believe there was more then one of them."Rusty Goe writes: "Well, it was fun while it lasted, but PCGS
has acknowledged that there has NOT been a new 1873-CC
No Arrows dime certified. Apparently, the listing in the Pop
report was due to a "mechanical error" (typo).This is what we suspected all along, and that is why we
asked to speak to one of PCGS's key personnel, who
undeniably confirmed that there was in fact a second specimen
graded. We had no reason to doubt the veracity of their
spokesman, who was unwavering even after being informed
of what a significant event it would be.Several years ago a similar incident occurred. A second
1873-CC No Arrows dime appeared on the PCGS pop
report, but it was almost immediately discovered to be a typo.
The owner of the coin actually had some fun with it at coin
shows, showing his beat up circulated 1873-CC No Arrows
dime in a PCGS holder, and offering it for sale at approximately
$5500. The certificate on the holder said No Arrows, but the
coin itself, of course, had the arrows. If you have a 1999 pop
report, you can look it up. But it was soon corrected, and it
wasn't until 2003 that this latest one appeared.Coin World's Bill Gibbs pursued this current story after we
reported it to him. Upon further examination of their data,
PCGS's rep. told Gibbs that his initial response had been
pre-mature, and the population figure was for an 1873-CC
WITH Arrows dime in the VG - VF range. Bill Gibbs and I
agreed that this would have been a sensational story if it had
in fact been a NO Arrows dime.Incidents such as this illustrate how influential population data
can be to the coin hobby. Integrity and accuracy are of
paramount importance, and can not be taken lightly. There
have been millions of coins certified since 1986, and it is easy
for many to get lost in the shuffle. Most of the coins are
inconsequential, e.g. - 1881-S dollars in MS-63. But
statistics for classic rarities must be held to stricter standards.
A red light needs to flash when dates with extremely low pop
figures are added to the reports. If these additions prove to
be accurate, press releases need to be issued to share the
news with the rest of the collector community.In some ways its disappointing that a second 1873-CC No
Arrows dime was not discovered, but in another way, it is
also satisfying to preserve the revered status afforded to the
Eliasberg specimen. Coin collecting can always use celestial
classics.As a sidenote: Special thanks to Len A. who offered us an
interesting piece of Carson City lore.Any comments can be sent to: Rusty Goe, Southgate Coins
5032 S. Virginia St., Reno, NV 89502,
mariesgate at sbcglobal.net- 2003-06-20
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