Natural Toning
1873-CC


Obverse
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Reverse
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Coin Details

  

Set Details
Origin/Country: United States
Design Description: SILVER DOLLARS - SEATED LIBERTY, NO MOTTO
Item Description: $1 1873 CC
Grade: PCGS XF 45
Owner: Hagop
 
Winning Set: Natural Toning
Date Added: 4/4/2021
Research: See NGC's Census Report for this Coin

Owner's Description

An undisputed key date with a mintage of only 2,300, it is the rarest of the four Carson City issues. It is thought that many were melted when the silver dollar was replaced by the Trade dollar later that year. Slight weakness is sometimes seen on Liberty and the star centrals. Finding a problem free example with natural surfaces in any grade is very difficult. Decades of searching elapsed before finding this wonderful well struck example with a bold liberty, deep gunmetal-gray surfaces, and surprisingly few marks.

Rusty Goe: By the end of the first month of 1873, Carson Mint workers had executed 27,000 coins, 1,000 of which were standard silver dollars, with the Liberty Seated design, which the government had officially issued for the past 33 years. An additional 1,300 silver dollars were struck shortly thereafter, apparently on February 13, 1873. These would be the last of the date and type coined in Carson City.

Of greater significance than the actual mintage figure is whether depositors received any of those 1873-CC silver dollars. Congress had already passed the Coinage Act of 1873 and as a result, silver dollars were abolished. Many numismatists have conjectured that the Carson Mint melted most of those obsolete 1873-CC silver dollars in compliance with the Coinage Act, which took effect on April 1, 1873.

The 1873-CC has a lower extant population than its mates from 1870, 1871 and 1872, but still, the survival rate is higher than most Carson City coins from the same era. Based on the estimated survival population, possibly four to five percent of the original mintage of 1873-CC silver dollars exists -- which still ranks it as slightly scarcer than its lower-mintage counterpart from 1871.

An interesting story that originated in the 1970s might account for the provenance of at least two and maybe three of the extant Mint State 1873-CC Seated dollars. Reno coin dealer Frank Roza Jr. told how a construction worker brought in an old Prince Edward tobacco can to his satellite coin shop in Carson City. When Roza opened the can, he saw a handful of "CC" coins dated 1872 and 1873, and some Nevada-related items. Roza was amazed to discover that three of the coins were 1873-CC Seated dollars, all in Uncirculated condition -- or maybe two Mint State pieces and one AU specimen. The construction worker told Roza he had found the treasure trove stashed inside a wall at the Nevada State Museum (the old Carson City Mint), where he was working on a renovation job.

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