The 1873 Melbourne is the third Young Head half sovereign to be struck at an Australian mint and the first to be struck from the Melbourne mint. The design features a slightly larger bust and a more detailed shield. A total of 165,034 half sovereigns were struck during this year though most are of a lower condition averaging at around nearly Fine to Fine. The reverse of this date tends to grade up to a full grade better due to the hard-wearing nature of its intricate design with XF coins tending to have fully lustrous reverses. The date is relatively difficult to acquire with an estimated 800-900 pieces available. The date is available in mint state and one Choice Uncirculated example was sold at the Reserve Bank Sale in 2005 which realized $36,000 plus commission (Downies, 2005).