By Roger W. Burdette, special to CoinWeek …..
The Carson City Mint has long been credited with delivering 591,000 standard Morgan silver dollars during the calendar year 1880. This quantity appears in official publications and numismatic literature. Further, it is well known that 96,000 Carson City dollars dated 1880 were condemned due to substandard fineness and were recoined at a later date. While this does not affect total production, it means that the maximum of 1880-CC dollars is 495,000.
This investigation indicates that a further 18,000 coins were either not actually minted, or were omitted from United States Mint Bureau Headquarters documentation. If these coins were not produced, then the maximum would shrink to 477,000.
From January through April 1880, the Carson City Mint did not produce or deliver silver coins. This was attributed to a shortage of bullion, for which California Nevada Bank and others wanted a premium over the London rate paid by the U.S. Mint Bureau. Eventually, enough silver was acquired to begin dollar manufacture in May, and 87,000 coins were delivered from the same pair of dies.
These standard silver dollars were delivered on:
- May 17: 28,000
- May 24: 32,000
- May 29: 22,000
- May 31: 5,000
There is no die report for June 1880, but a tabular report of Carson City Mint coinage by quarters covers all of 1880.
This shows silver dollar production in 1880 by quarters as:
- Jan-Mar: $0
- Apr-Jun: $198,000
- Jul-Sept: $234,000
- Oct-Dec: $159,000
If no coins were struck in April, and 87,000 were struck in May, then according to the report by calendar quarters, June’s delivered mintage was 111,000 dollar pieces. However, the headquarters volume “Coinage for each mint by delivery date”, volume 2, shows deliveries on:
- June 9: 22,000
- June 14: 18,000
- June 23: 22,000
- June 25: 31,000
Accordingly, silver dollar deliveries totaled 93,000 in that month. This is 18,000 less than the quarterly report. Further, the same quarterly reporting shows 591,000 Morgan dollars were struck at the Carson City Mint in 1880, and the HQ delivery journal shows a total of 573,000. A check of available correspondence does not reveal either the source of the discrepancy or any discussion about origin or correction.
For the balance of 1880, the delivery quantities match. Delivery dates are:
The quantity of 591,000 has long been used in official publications and numismatic literature. At present, and without additional corroboration, we must presume that a delivery of 18,000 pieces was omitted from the Mint Headquarters journal.
