2355

1871-CC 10C AU55 NGC. An extraordinary coin for th 1871-CC[10C] AU55 NGC.

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1871-CC 10C AU55 NGC. An extraordinary coin for th 1871-CC[10C] AU55 NGC.
<B>1871-CC<10C> AU55 NGC.</B></I> An extraordinary coin for the collector that boasts steel gray tones over silver, with a dash of multicolored iridescence on the lower reverse. The strike is quite sharp with no signs of obverse weakness, and the reverse is sharp as well with just a hint of weakness on the upper left wreath on a couple of the wheat heads. An early die state for this reverse die, which was actually used in later years, this fact was traced to a minor die crack which crosses through the center of the CC mintmark to the right ribbon. On this coin, no trace of that die crack is seen. Traces of luster remain in the fields, and we note a few trivial faint scratches from brief circulation. Identifiable by a thin curving scratch from the rock into the left obverse field which ends beneath the upper left serif of the U of UNITED.<BR> Rarity, one of the most talked about concepts in numismatics. Why is this date so rare? The original mintage of 20,100 fails to tell the story. Virtually the entire issue quickly entered circulation, where small change was in great need. Remember, large amounts of gold were still being found in California, and then huge silver mines were discovered in Nevada, so there were many people moving to the area and needing things like coinage to support these rapidly growing states. Most examples of this date are found with damage and heavy wear, if found at all, and locating an attractive piece for a date collection can take years. Aside from a small cluster of mint state coins, this is one of the finest seen of the date, and a coin that any collector would welcome wholeheartedly.<BR> These were struck in the very popular and short-lived mint in Carson City, Nevada. Coinage began in 1870, and continued until 1885, when the Carson City Mint was closed for four years during the term of Grover Cleveland. Cleveland felt that there was no need for a mint in that area as the San Francisco Mint could easily handle the coinage needs for the region. Cleveland left office in 1889 and the Carson City Mint won a reprieve and thus reopened for coinage. Cleveland was reelected in 1893 to the Presidency, and again, the Carson City Mint was closed, this time for good as far as coinage was concerned. This brought to a close one of the most storied American mints. NGC reports a single coin graded this high, with four coins seen finer of this date.