1873 Dime Patterns

About This Coin

From the final year of the Trade Dollar Era Patterns (1871-1873), the 1873 Dime Patterns represent William Barber's reimagination of the ten-cent denomination at the Philadelphia Mint. The obverse carries Barber's seated Liberty facing left with olive branch and wheat sheaf — a departure from the Seated Liberty dime by Christian Gobrecht in production since 1837. The reverse features an eagle perched on a bale of goods with olive branch and three arrows, reflecting the commercial themes of the Trade Dollar era when America's expanding Pacific trade demanded coinage projecting both openness and strength. A notable auction of $9.9K in PR66 grade at Stack's places these dime patterns at a relatively accessible price point compared to larger denominations from the same family. The 1873 Barber dime patterns are part of a coordinated program producing matching patterns for every denomination from cent through double eagle, creating a unified visual language that demonstrated the Mint's capacity for systematic design innovation. For specialists, the dime patterns document how Barber's artistic vision scaled across denominations with remarkable compositional consistency.