1881-CC $1 Morgan Silver Dollar PCGS MS63

Here’s an attractive coin—with a lot of history behind it—to add to your collection. This coin, from the celebrated Carson City mint, is a true artifact of the romantic past of our nation. PCGS has graded 6,184 as MS63 with 18,254 finer. Collector’s Universe prices this issue at $860.00 in MS63.

Such coins evoke the olden times of the Wild West: Cowboys and Indians; the banks, bordellos and bistros that popped up almost overnight during the discovery of the Comstock Lode and the Silver Rush; and of course, the miners who worked in the belly of the earth. Without them we wouldn't such relics as the one offered here by AU Capital Management.

Sioux chief Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill Cody, who worked together in Cody's Wild West Show. Both of them no doubt carried Carson City silver dollars in their pockets and spent them regularly in the Old West. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Despite its low mintage of 296,000, this is not a rare coin. David Bowers writes, "The low mintage of this issue and the popular Carson City mintmark contribute to the desirability." Ironically, this coin is a true rarity in worn grades--and actually difficult to find. Wayne Miller, who authored The Morgan and Peace Dollar Textbook, writes, "The typical 1881-CC has full, frosty luster and bold strike .... On the whole, the 1881-CC is probably the highest quality Morgan dollar struck at the Carson City mint." Bowers tells us that many were paid out during the 1930s, as well as a few more bags in 1954. The GSA holdings were 147,485--49.82% of the original mintage.