1878-CC $20 Liberty Head Double Eagle PCGS AU53

Here’s a great rarity from the Carson City Mint that the specialist will want to closely examine. Its mintage of 13,180 makes this a greatly desired piece for the sophisticated numismatist. Look at the photos of this stunning survivor of the Old West. PCGS has graded 77 as AU53 with 150 finer.

One of the most captivating aspects of numismatics is examining and understanding why particular coins are rare. Every issue has its own story and collectors must look at the available evidence, whether empirical or circumstantial. The mintage of 1877-CC double eagles was a substantial 42,565. So why the dip from that amount in 1877 to a mere 13,180 in 1878? Let's look at some convincing circumstantial evidence. The Bland-Allison Act was passed by Congress in February of 1878. That Act required the Treasury Department to acquire between $2 million to $4 million worth of silver every month from Western mines and produce silver dollars with them.

The Carson City Mint, where this specimen was produced in 1878.

At the time they were called Bland dollars or standard dollars, but today we call them Morgan dollars after the designer-engraver George T. Morgan. The mintage of Carson City Morgan dollars for 1878 was 2,212,000. It is quite conceivable that the officers and workers at the Carson City Mint were simply overwhelmed with the work involved in producing so many silver dollars that little time and effort was available to mint double eagles. The mint facility in Carson City was smaller than the mints of Philadelphia, New Orleans, and San Francisco, and thus did not have the capability to produce as many coins as the others.