1882-CC $10 Liberty Head Eagle PCGS XF45

Here’s a rare piece to include in your collection, one with the famous “CC” mintmark upon the reverse. Carson City gold is greatly desired by specialists and collectors alike. The 1882-CC ten had a small mintage of only 6,764. Quite a few Carson City issues had similar mintages. To discover why, please see below.

PCGS has graded 42 as XF45 with 97 finer. Collector’s Universe gives this issue a price of $8,000.00 in XF45.

The Carson City Mint, where this rare piece was struck in 1882. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

In an interview with Nevada Magazine in 2018, Carson City specialist Rusty Goe discusses the Bonanza Kings of the Comstock Lode; they owned the two most productive mines at the Comstock. Goe states that they sent the vast majority of their gold and silver bullion to San Francisco. “They would never claim not to support [the Carson City Mint],” said Goe, “but they seemed to send just 10 percent or less to Carson.”

Goe says that transportation industry monopolies also made the situation more difficult at the Carson City Mint. Nevada rail services were charging exorbitant sums to move bullion from the Comstock to Carson. According to the report in Nevada Magazine, Goe said they charged as much to send bullion to Carson, which was only 14 miles away, as it would cost to send it to New York, then to San Francisco, and back to Carson.

“It was plain discrimination,” says Goe. “It was cheaper for miners to ship bullion to San Francisco and even sometimes Philadelphia.”