1876-CC 50C Liberty Seated Half Dollar PCGS XF45 (CAC)

Helpful PCGS XF45 CAC Price Information:

Collector's Universe: $1,050.

CAC: $1,100.

Coin Dealer Newsletter: $720.

Relevant CAC auction records: 

• 12/2019 HA @ $625. (#38188513)
• 08/2019 HA @ $630. (#27256353)
• 09/2013 HA @ $329. (#26777503 - the present coin)

The year 1876 saw the largest production of half dollars (1,956,000) at the Carson City Mint. The goals of the Specie Resumption Act of 1875 were fully met in 1876, for paper money finally reached value parity with the nation's silver coins.

It would be two more years before gold would return to circulation in most of the nation, nonetheless in the area served by the Carson City Mint gold and silver had circulated all along. Writes NGC Coin Explorer, “In fact, most of the 1876-CC half dollar coinage was shipped east to supplement the restoration of silver in the eastern half of the nation.”

PCGS has graded 57 as XF45 with 284 finer. In CAC, there are 14 in XF45 with 44 finer.

Miners at the Comstock Lode. This offering from AU Capital Management was produced with Comstock silver. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Writes Ron Guth in PCGS Coinfacts, “In 1876, employees at the Carson City Mint produced a record number of nearly two million Half Dollars, a number they would never meet or exceed again. From a relative standpoint, this makes the 1876-CC Half Dollar a common to semi-scarce coin, but it always commands a premium in the market because of the mintmark on the reverse. PCGS has certified scores of Mint State examples between MS63 and MS64. Gems are rare but not extraordinarily so. Anything better than MS65 is a condition-rarity.”