1879-CC $1 Morgan Silver Dollar NGC AU55

With its mintage of 756,000, the 1879-CC $1 is the first key date of the Morgan dollar series. Plus, it is the second rarest—after the 1889-CC—of all of the Carson City Morgan dollars. What makes it a greater rarity is that possibly hundreds of thousands of the issue were melted during the time of the Pittman Act of 1918.

During the early 1950s, there were multiple thousands of 1879-CC dollars paid out from the Treasury in Washington, D.C. After the Treasury release ended in 1964, the General Services Administration (GSA) holdings of 1879-CC dollars numbered only 4,123, which represents only 0.55% of its original mintage.

NGC has graded 184 as AU55 with 3,511 finer. Collectors Universe prices this issue at $4,350.00 in AU55.

The Carson City Mint, where this rare piece was struck in 1879. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Ron Guth writes in PCGS Coinfacts: "The 1879-CC Silver Dollar is a very popular date. As one of the scarcest CC-Mint Morgan Dollars, it has an allure all its own. The mintmark is found either rusted or unrusted. The rusted version is often called the "Capped Die" or the "Capped CC." Of the two varieties, the non-rusted version is the most common and has a certified population about twice that of the Capped CC."

"Hundreds of MS63 and MS64 examples have been certified, but collector demand keeps prices high. None have been graded finer than MS66."