There were 7,700,000 dimes produced at the Carson City Mint in 1877. Ten cent pieces were minted in a consecutive 8 year span, 1871 through 1878. 1877 marked the last of three years of significant dime production and stopped after only 200,000 were minted in 1878.
The 1877 is far and away the most plentiful example of a Carson City dime available to collectors. Rusty Goe in his epic, The Mint on Carson Street, estimates 40,000 to 80,000 survive in all grades. One thousand to 1,750 in uncirculated and 3,000 to 6,000 in XF and AU. An 1877-CC dime can be obtained at a relatively reasonable price. A search of a randomly selected dealer, Southgate Coins, produced six examples for sale on it's website. Prices range from $315 for an AU example to $2,700 for a beautifully toned MS65 gem.
While varieties of 1877-CC dimes are not well publicized, like many coins of the era, there are examples of clashed dies, die cracks and repunching on the digits. Rusty Goe reports no less than five mint mark positions known on 1877-CC dimes, no doubt exacerbated by the fact that the engraver had to punch two mint marks instead of one, so the outcome was probably never the same. A set of coins with all known mint mark positions would be an interesting pursuit for a collector, considering the availability of the date. Perhaps a sixth is out there?
Considering the high survival rate, there are 3 MS68 reported, all evaluated at NGC. NGC also has assigned 5 MS67 through it's grading efforts and PCGS has yielded only 3 MS67, none finer. It is possible these figures are skewed by a few upgrade attempts.
As an historical note, of all the denominations minted in this year, the 1877 Indian Cent, with a reported mintage of 852,500 and a low survival rate is most prized by collectors. 1877 was also a year that many patterns were struck. One of the most enigmatic is the 1877 gold half union. Only two were struck. William Woodin, a future Secretary of the Treasury, offered to the US Treasury $10,000 for each coin. The Treasury declined but instead sold Mr. Woodin a huge collection of pattern coins. The half unions remain in the National Numismatic Collection.
In other news, a US Assay Office opened on January 15, 1877 in Helena, Montana. Rutherford B. Hayes, a Republican from Ohio, defeated Samuel J. Tilden for the Presidency by only one electoral vote. The first Wimbledon tennis championship began on July 9. 1877 was also a busy year for Thomas Edison. He invented the phonograph, gramophone and made the first sound recording on December 6, an invention which much later resulted in sound recording in its most base form: "American Idol".
