1893-CC $1 MS PL

Key to Collecting: The 1893-CC is, sadly, the last of the Carson City dollars—ending a romantic numismatic era. Today, surviving pieces are much loved, much desired by numismatists. Mint State 1893-CC dollars are well known for being extensively bagmarked, some actually appearing quite abused. Accordingly, the majority of Mint State pieces are in lower MS grades. A piece MS-63 or finer, with minimum bagmarks, is a numismatic find and is very special. Discount poor strikes and “baggy” coins, and you’ll find that remaining pieces in the marketplace are few and far between. A really choice 1893-CC in any grade from MS-63 upward will be a find. Many attractive circulated coins exist and for many buyers will neatly fill the 1893-CC space.

Surface Quality: Average or below average, sometimes the lightness on the reverse not only being at on the eagle’s breast (as expected) but also on the extremities of the wings. Luster is often satiny and attractive, although there are exceptions. Excessive bagmarks often negate any appeal luster might have.

Prooflike Coins: Prooflike pieces are elusive and are usually lightly struck at the centers.

Mintage and Distribution: Delivery figures by month: January, 130,000; February, 150,000; March, 140,000; April, 120,000; May, 137,000; June–December, 0. The coinage of silver dollars was suspended at the Carson City Mint on May 23, sounding the death knell for the most plentiful denomination, by far, among CC issues. In ensuing years, many bags and single coins of various dates (no accounting was kept) were paid out. On July 1, 1899, the status of Carson City as a mint was offcially ended, although no coins had been struck since 1893. As of that time there were 5,008,552 Carson City dollars stored there. By July 1, 1900, there were no dollars in the Carson City building. The remaining coins were shipped to vaults in the San Francisco Mint and the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. From these depots, bags were paid out in the normal course of business as early as 1920, continuing over the next three decades, at which time little numismatic notice was taken of them. In the 1950’s more bags were released, with Harry J. Forman handling at least 10 toward the end of the decade. The well ran dry, and the General Services Administration had only one 1893CC dollar in its inventory after 1964. The Redfield hoard (1976) contained a few thousand, many of which were scraped by a counting machine used to inventory the pieces.

Positional varieties exist for the date logotype and mintmark letters, none of which is spectacular, these from 10 obverse dies sent to Carson City plus 5 reverse dies, the last to add to usable dies still on hand.