1885-CC $1 Morgan Silver Dollar PCGS MS65 Prooflike

Beautiful, well-struck example of one of the most popular coins from the Carson City Mint. There have been 164 graded PCGS MS65PL with 68 finer.

There is much western lore associated with Carson City Morgan dollars. The smell of whiskey hung in the air as stacks of Morgan dollars sat upon the gaming tables in smoke-filled rooms of Rhyolite, Tincup, Silver Reef and other gambling towns that dotted the Wild West. In banks, bordellos, and bistros in Helena, Cheyenne, and Denver, clerks handled silver dollars every day.  Many dollars and other coins that changed hands in those days carried the "CC" mintmark of Carson City.

The "Dodge City Peace Commission" on June 10, 1883. Among them is famed lawman Wyatt Earp (seated 2nd from left). It is possible that a few Carson City silver dollars were in his pocket when this photo was taken.

At 228,000, the 1885-CC has the lowest mintage of all the Carson City Morgan dollars. Because of that, collectors have always been drawn to this date and mintmark. However, after the GSA mail bid sales, 1885-CC's have never been difficult to purchase in uncirculated grades. After being produced, nearly all of the 1855-CC dollars were bagged and stored, thereby creating a great numismatic rarity. Later years saw bags distributed from the Treasury building in Washington, D.C. Many bags were paid out during the 1950s. There were 148,285 of them--65.03% of the original mintage--in the Treasury hoard that was sold via the GSA in the 1970s and 1980. Numismatic author Q. David Bowers writes of this coin: "Most examples are brilliant, lustrous, and attractive to the eye .... Most are well struck with brilliant, frosty lustre."