The Carson City Mint opened for business in 1870. That year, it struck 11,758 silver dollars and 54,617 half dollars. From those figures, one might conclude that the 1870-CC dollar is rarer than its half dollar counterpart. But more dollars were set aside, and the 1870-CC half is certainly the greater rarity, as can be…
From a tiny mintage of just 751 pieces, the 1885 Liberty double eagle is a rare issue in all grades today. The small mintage was a consequence of contemporary Mint policy, which sought to reduce production of double eagles and increase the circulation of the five and ten-dollar denominations. The Philadelphia Mint followed this policy…
The 1863-S is even rarer than suggested by its production of 10,000 pieces. It is also a condition rarity, most likely because of the general unawareness of mint-marked coins and their relative scarcity until the 1893 publication by Augustus Heaton of his groundbreaking work Treatise on Coinage of the United States Branch Mints. By then, most of the remaining 1863-S tens were well-worn. Today, VF-XF coins are usually all that are encountered with AU pieces such as this among the finest examples…
S-44, B-33, R.1. One of the common 1794 varieties, this die combination is usually recognized at a glance by the die cracks on each side. The obverse is cracked through the 7 and 1, the lower hair curls, the left field, and along the outer edge of the cap to the border at 10 o’clock. The present example has minimal wear, evident on the hair curl above the ear. Its glossy surfaces are toned lavender-blue interspersed with mahogany-brown. An attractive representative…
The New Orleans Mint struck a small mintage of 17,741 Liberty double eagles in the early part of 1861, on the brink of the Civil War. Noted gold specialist Doug Winter reports only 5,000 of those coins were struck before January 26, while the New Orleans Mint was still operating under federal authority. Another 9,750 examples were produced between January 26 and March 31, while the State of Louisiana was the governing authority. A final production of 2,991 specimens was…
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