The Double Eagles of 1873 are marked by one of the most interesting varieties seen on any series of United States gold coins; the Closed 3 and Open 3.

One of the responsibilities of the Mint Engraver is to prepare date punches or logotypes. Generally speaking, the logotypes for a specific year are prepared at the end of the previous year. In November 1872, Mint Engraver William Barber created the date punches for what would be the working dies for the 1873 issues. On these punches, Barber produced the digit 3 in such a way that the knobs were much too close. As a result, this digit closely resembled the numeral 8.

A.L. Snowden’s Complaint and the Redesign of the 1873 Date Punch

In the Archives of the Mint exists a letter dated January 18, 1873 from Chief Coiner A.L. Snowden to Mint Director James Pollock; this letter makes note of the irregularity and lodges a formal complaint. As a result, Barber was ordered to make new date punches which had a more distinctive number 3.