Heritage Auctions is offering a month-long internet-only auction showcasing exclusively Carson City coinage. The Carson City Mint operated from 1870-1893, producing some of the most sought-after coins in US numismatic history, ranging from dimes to double eagles. This auction will be open for bidding exclusively at coins.HA.com until June 15, with the live session scheduled for 6 PM CT.
Most of the offerings in this auction are Morgan dollars, but one of the most fascinating offerings is neither a Morgan dollar nor indeed a coin at all. This intriguing piece of Carson City Mint history is one of numerous reverse dies that the Carson City Mint used to strike half dollars in the 1870s. During this period, working dies were manufactured in Philadelphia and then shipped to the branch mints for use. The CC mintmark was entered into this die prior to shipping. After its retirement from coinage in Carson City, the die was canceled with an X on its face and buried on the Carson City Mint grounds with other retired dies.
In 1999, development excavations on what was the Mint grounds in the 1870s unearthed a cache of buried, canceled dies for all denominations struck at Carson City. The Medium CC mintmark and the Open Bud hub type narrow this die’s usage to 1875, 1876, or early 1877. The placement of the mintmark in relation to the F in HALF, the fletching tip, and the eagle’s talons, as well as the spacing of the two Cs, appears to match diagnostics for 1876-CC Reverse U in Bill Bugert’s A Register of Liberty Seated Half Dollar Varieties, although the extent of the steel’s deterioration and pitting prohibits definitive confirmation.
Additional highlights of this auction include coins such as the following:
- 1877-CC 10C MS65 NGC
- 1879-CC $1 MS61 PCGS
- 1889-CC $1 XF45+ PCGS
- 1890-CC $1 MS63 Deep Mirror Prooflike PCGS
- 1882-CC $20 AU50 NGC
Bid on the Carson City offerings in this auction now at Coins.HA.com.
