1878-CC $20 Liberty Head Double Eagle NGC XF45

A true rarity from the historic Carson City Mint, this is a specimen that the specialist will want to consider adding to his or her numismatic holdings. With its mintage of 13,180, this is a greatly desired issue. Take a look at the dramatic photos of this offering from AUCM, this true artifact of the Old West. NGC has graded 72 as XF45 with 202 finer.

Among the most fascinating aspects of numismatics is studying and analyzing how and why a specific coin is 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 it dip from that amount in 1877 to a much smaller 13,180 in 1878? Let's look at some persuasive 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.