1873-CC $1 Liberty Seated Dollar PCGS AU55

Classic Rarity in the PCGS Old Green Holder Gen. 3.0 from 1990-1993

“This is the most famous of all Carson City Mint Liberty Seated dollars and also the rarest,” writes David Bowers. PCGS has graded 7 as AU55 with just 6 finer. Collectors Universe gives this famous issue a price of $145,000.00 in AU55.

1873 was also the year the U.S. Trade dollar made its debut. Bowers reports that “Mintage was 1,000 in January and 1,300 in March,” giving us a total of 2,300 pieces. NGC Coin Explorer estimates that there are 100 extant examples of the 1873-CC today.

In a letter to Bowers, R.W. Julian writes of the 1873-CC Seated Liberty dollar: "If the 2,300 were not called for by the silver depositor, it is likely that they would have been melted, and his bullion returned to him. It is my opinion, however, that all the coins were paid out and then perhaps redeposited for trade dollar coinage a few weeks later."

If Julian is correct, that suggests that the bulk of the 2,300 1873-CC Seated Liberty dollars were initially earmarked for export to China. That is due to Trade dollars having 378 grains of fine silver vs. the Seated dollars having 371.25 grains. The higher silver content gave those coins greater buying power in the Orient. However, as discussed above, there are examples of the 1873-CC Seated Liberty dollar that did indeed circulate, probably only in the Old West.

Virginia & Trucklee Railroad No. 11, Reno. At Carson City in the 1870s. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.