1879-CC $1 Morgan Silver Dollar PCGS MS63 (CAC)

When you purchase this 1879-CC silver dollar you will own a great rarity and a true relic of the romantic past of our nation: the history of the Wild West; the history of the silver mines and silver barons; and the history of the miners who worked the mines. Close your eyes for a minute and let yourself drift back in time. Saloon doors swing open and the smell of whiskey hangs in the air. You hear a player piano knocking out a popular tune--and the distinctive clang of silver dollars is heard as they are dropped on the wooden bar to pay for a round of drinks.

The Morgan dollar is the most popular classic coin series that collectors crave. And within that series is a subset that everyday collectors and specialists alike cherish: Carson City Morgan dollars from the GSA (General Services Administration) hoard. It was after the famous 'Treasury Releases' of 1962-64, when millions of silver dollars were sold to the public, that the U.S. Treasury discovered a previously unknown massive hoard of mint bags of Carson City silver dollars--over 2.8 million of them!--hidden away in Treasury vaults. It was decided to sell these coins under the authority of the GSA in seven mail bid sales from 1972 to 1980. Even though the current offering does not have the GSA designation, it is more than likely from that famous hoard.

The 1879-CC Morgan dollar, with its mintage of 756,000, is the first key date of the Morgan dollar series and the second rarest (after 1889-CC) of all Carson City silver dollars. That is because perhaps hundreds of thousands of them were melted down under the Pittman Act of 1918. Several thousand 1879-CC dollars were paid out from the Treasury building in Washington, D.C., during the early 1950s. After the Treasury release ended in 1964, the GSA holdings of 1879-CC dollars numbered only 4,123,or 0.55% of its original mintage. These were sold in the GSA mail bids discussed above.

There are two basic types of 1879-CC dollar: the "perfect" or Large CC variety and the less attractive and less popular "Large CC over Small CC." The current offering by AUCM is the popular "perfect" or Large CC variety. This is a very attractive collectable choice example. Numismatic author and auctioneer Q. David Bowers tells us, "Most 1879-CC dollars are quite well struck on obverse and reverse. The 1879-CC is typically encountered with attractive lustre.... Not much searching is needed to find a 'nice' coin, as such pieces are the rule."