1870-CC $1 Liberty Seated Dollar PCGS XF40 (CAC)

The 1870 Carson City silver dollar is an intriguing issue. It was the very first coin struck at the famed Nevada mint. It's also the only Seated Liberty Dollar from Carson City that is available to collectors (when compared to the price of the other Carson City Seated Dollars). Countless numismatists want to own this historic coin. PCGS has graded 81 examples as XF40 with 235 finer. In CAC, there are 6 in XF40 with 18 finer. CAC prices this issue at $8,100.00 in XF40.

David Bowers writes, “The 1870-CC, the first Carson City dollar issue, was minted to the extent of just 11,758, the total of monthly production figures per Mint records.” R.W. Julian and Randall Wiley both examined mint documents and arrived at 11,758. The previous long-standing figure of 12,462 was calculated by the U.S. Mint in the mid-1880s.

Despite its small mintage, examples exist in decent numbers in circulated grades, demonstrating that it was used in everyday commerce—and saved. Bowers continues, “John Kroon reported that he saw 17 specimens at a single coin show….Dale Phelan wrote that in 1992 a hoard of 82 coins in lower grades was in a private collection .… Hundreds of specimens exist, many of which show extensive wear.” Additionally, writes Bowers, “Examples of Mint State 1870-CC dollars, while quite rare, are more available than any of their other Carson City brethren in the Liberty Seated series.”

The Carson City Mint, where this rare piece was struck in 1870. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The 1870-CC circulated in the West. However, Seated Liberty dollars were also employed in the China trade. People in the West employed hard money in day to day commerce, but the dollar coin was never a common circulating medium. That is why mintages of Seated Liberty dollars were always small.

There is one known chopmarked 1870-CC dollar, which demonstrates that this issue was sent to China. In 1870, a silver dollar had an intrinsic value of $1.027, making it de facto bullion. When that happened, merchants would send Seated Liberty dollars to the Orient in trade. But there was a small amount that circulated, especially in the West.