1871 would see the second year of operations of the Carson City Mint. After launching off in 1870, one would think the Mint was roaring to go in coin production. But roaring would be too bold of a word, for after a meager total coin production of 92,791 for 1870, coinage would increase just 2.3 times that number to 214,958 coins in 1871, a small fraction of total production from the other mints in operation. But it was off and running, and that was what mattered for the people of Carson.
Henry F. rice was in charge as the mint's superintendent since September of 1870 when Abe Curry resigned the post to run for the Republican nomination for lieutenant-governor of Nevada. Abe would loose his bid, and Rice remained superintendent of the mint until April of 1873.
In 1871, Germany demonetized silver, which would start an era that became the Thirty Years War on silver, opting to go on a single metal standard, gold. It would become an era of cheap silver, but it would be a few years before its effects would be felt in Carson, right about the time the mines of the Comstock scratched the surface of the "Big Bonanza".
But in 1971, the mint at Carson was doing what it could and with silver dollars, that would amount to 1,376 sliver dollars produced. Philadelphia in the same year totaled 1,074,700 silver dollars, more than 780 times as many than C.C. and more that 366 times as many as the total 19,288 silver dollars that Carson city minted from 1870 to 1873. This low mintage number, 1,376, could be due to a congressional movement brewing to do away with the silver dollar as a monetary standard, a feat that they would succeed after 1873. Save for the Trade Dollar, silver dollars for general circulation was discontinued after 1873, until 1878.
Bearing the Seated Liberty design by Christian Gobrecht, of the 1,376 C.C. dollars minted in 1871, it is believed that around 10% survive in all grades, or roughly about 100 to 125 coins, but that number could change. Although the big silver melts and exportation of silver dollars would offer explaination of the low survival numbers (not to mention the extremely low minting number to begin with), it is believed that a lot of 1871 examples were used in the Carson City area, so time may tell about the possibility of more coming to light.
One variety is known to have a die chip that is on one and connecting to another denticle on the bottom of the obverse side at the rim below the "7" of the date. The mint mark is a widely spaced "C C" on all examples with the date evenly set.
With the approximately 125 examples surviving about four are in uncirculated grades with one grading the highest by PCGS at MS-64, about fifty survivors grade Extremely Fine to About Uncirculated. the rest at Very Fine and below. The 1871 C.C. Seated Liberty silver dollar is indeed, a true rarity.
Prices as according to NumisMedia Fair Market Value guide are as follows for each grade:
G- $2,160 / VG- $3,900 / F- $5,100 / VF- $7,220 / EF- $14,810
AU50- $22,810 / AU55- $30,620 / MS60- $68,750
The seed for the mint planted by the people of Carson had sprouted and began to bloom. They cultured and cared for it and were in awe when it bloomed, and cringed when it whithered. Would it continue to bloom or whither away, history would tell the tale.
