1870-CC $5 Gold CC Coin of the Week - 8-15-2010

1870-CC $5 Liberty Gold Piece


…from the drummer collection

1870 - The magic year for all things Carson City mint related. The country was in a “full-steam-ahead” rebuilding mode on the heels of the Civil Wars’ ending. Way out west, hardy pioneers were busy building towns and mining silver and gold. The western rush movement was in high gear and the entrepreneurial spirit was in abundance.

The significance of this 1870 date concerning Carson City lore cannot be overlooked. It was all made possible by a true visionary of his time. I will be devoting the first part of my article to the man who made all of the “CC” coins possible.

Abraham Van Santvoord Curry (1815-1873): Abraham helped found Carson City, the Territorial State prison (he was the warden), and of course the United States branch mint at Carson City.

Abraham's amazing story is the makings of a book in itself and much can be written and explored about the life of this special man. It is simply not possible to go into all of the detailed information in this article. There is however one Curry family story of note that I would like to briefly share with you. Again, I cannot possibly cover all the details here in this post, so this then is the condensed version. Many people are not aware of the following:
In 1862, Lucy Curry, one of Abrahams’ daughters married notable Carson City surgeon Anton William Tjader, a Russian immigrant. Anton was even mentioned in Mark Twains’ book Early Tales and Sketches. Long story short, One of Lucy and Anton’s children married a musician/entertainer and they became traveling Vaudeville performers. One of their children is none other than the world famous vibraphonist/jazz recording giant Cal Tjader. An amazing connection to say the least! I invite each of you to further explore Abraham Curry’s family legacy….you won’t be disappointed.

Back now to the late 1860’s: Abraham was bound and determined there be a mint in his town of Carson City. Against all odds, the unwavering and steadfast Abraham pulled off the near impossible by succeeding in his quest for this mint. He battled the Washington DC “powers-that-be” of his time to accomplish his remarkable feat.

Most eastern US politicians in those days had little regard for Carson City and anything related to the “Wild West”. To most of them Carson City was just a dusty little cow town full of bar-room brawlers, gun fighters, drunken miners and red light ladies….surely not a fitting place for a United States branch mint. Yes…there was some nice silver and gold in “them thar hills” but basically the territory was not looked upon in a favorable light. It was just these kinds of odds that were stacked against Abraham. Imagine if you will, he had to cross the country several times in dealing with the Washington bureaucrats. The cross country trip took many days and hours….a long and difficult journey ….no “Jet-Blue” back then! No computers or fax machines either. The work involved in getting his amazing deed accomplished is nearly unimaginable, yet because never gave up in his quest and stayed true to the task he appointed for himself, here we are…writing and reading this article in a C.O.W. post that belongs to a blog site from a C4OA club that probably came within a hair of never being in existence! It is a certainty that all this wouldn’t be here today had it not been for the perseverance of this visionary man who lived, breathed air and walked the earth well over a hundred years ago!

The Washington “powers-that-be” finally did cave-in and almost reluctantly allowed the new US branch mint at Carson to manufacture some coins…..darned few too! It’s as if Washingtonians were merely tossing out a few paltry bones to a dog. The Carsonites of the day however were undoubtedly ecstatic. They now had a genuine US mint in their town! They had to have been very proud of this accomplishment, and rightfully so. Of course, those extremely low "dog bone" mintages of their times have created the highly prized rarities of our times. What was bad for them was of course good for us. As the old saying goes (with no play-on-words intended) “There are two sides to every coin”.

With Abraham Curry as the new Carson mints’ superintendent, the year 1870 saw six denominations minted. All six of those issues are considered rare to very rare and are highly desired by collectors today. Five of these six are Top 25* “CC” coins

* The term Top 25 as well as all mintage/survivor figures in this article are courtesy of The Mint on Carson Street by Rusty Goe.

1870 “CC” DENOMINATIONS:

SILVER: seated quarter dollars; seated half dollars; seated silver dollars

GOLD: half eagles; eagles; double eagles

The 1870-CC seated liberty silver dollar was the first issue to be struck bearing the beloved “CC” mintmark and for that reason alone is a highly desirable collectible. That date was February 10, 1870. Of the 12,462 coins originally minted, only 450-650* survive today. Despite its rarity, it is the most available of the six “CC” 1870 issues. It is the only one of the six 1870-CC denominations not in the Top 25 "CC" coins list.


And now to the centerpiece of my article, the 1870-CC gold half eagle: It began life in February of 1870 and by year’s end, a total of 7,675 were struck. Only 70 to 85 are estimated to survive today. It is the key coin to a complete 19-piece set of “CC” half eagles and like its “CC” $10 and $20 counterparts is a highly esteemed rarity. Because some examples of this elusive date are locked away in museums and private collections without being members of complete sets, it’s fairly safe to assume that only 60 to 75 complete sets of “CC” half eagles are possible today….perhaps even less!

SURVIVOR ESTIMATES: (Courtesy of The Mint on Carson Street by Rusty Goe)

Uncirculated: 4 - 6
XF - AU: 35 - 40
All Grades: 70 - 85


PRICE ESTIMATES: (Courtesy of U.S. Coin Digest):

VF-20 - $5,50
XF-40 - $15,000
AU-50 - $30,000
MS-60 - $110,000

The above prices of course are “ball-park” and it remains doubtful that anyone could actually locate nice examples of this rare date coin at these listed prices.

Most 1870-CC $5 half eagles are weakly struck most noticeably on the eagle’s neck continuing down to the shield on the reverse. Typically, examples are baggy with most having been cleaned sometime in their past. Problem-free coins with sharp strikes will be priced in the nose-bleeds (if you are lucky enough to even find one).

The 1870-CC half eagle is an antique from the glorious period of time in our US history that some historians refer to as “the Gilded Age”. These coins were heavily used in commerce and not generally collected or saved by the people of their day. My coin is one of those examples: In a written description of the coin from several years ago, Rusty Goe described it as having a bit of a “scruffy” look and he’s 100% correct. It definitely has the bag marks so common to these “CC” gold issues as well as a few scratches (though no major ones). It’s also obvious that it has gone through a long-ago cleaning. Despite those numismatic abuses, all can be over-looked when balancing its condition with its rarity.

My coin actually possesses acceptable eye-appeal and has an over-all pleasing look. Because of its extreme rarity and desirability, it’s another one of my “it is what it is” coins. That being said, I feel great satisfaction, honor and privilege to have stewardship of this special, “CC” first year of issue coin.

My coin also has no known pedigree but by the looks of it has lived a long full life. In lieu of a pedigree however, my 1870-CC $5 coin came from a special grouping of “CC” half eagles. Allow me to explain: On Monday, May 3, 2004, I read my issue of Coin World magazine and saw an enticing advertisement from Southgate Coins. That CW ad displayed two full pages of amazing “CC” coins including a complete set of “CC” gold half eagles in the lower to mid grades. Knowing that I had the possibility of making an affordable acquisition of some very rare “CC” coins, I made a quick call…did a quick packing, put my truck in gear and high-tailed for Reno. In one fell-swoop, I purchased the majority of that advertised set. It included all the key and semi-key dates. This then is the “pedigree” (of sorts) for my 1870-CC half eagle and the set it belongs with. This is a complete well-matched set and is very cherished by me. It will always be so. Would I like to eventually do some upgrading? Yes...of course, but not replace it. I would simply build a 2nd, higher-grade set of “CC” half eagles and leave my present one intact.

It fascinates me to imagine this 1870-CC half eagles’ amazing 140 year journey from 1870 to now; all the pockets it’s resided in and all the hands that have held it; miners, barkeeps, politicians, pioneers, trailblazers, cattlemen, outlaws, in-laws, fettucini, linguini, martini, bikini…you name it! Perhaps Mark Twain once owned this coin…or Virginia City’s famous madam, Julia Bullette, who knows, maybe Abraham Curry himself! If only my coin could tell its complete story……it would be the makings of a major motion picture.

This 1870-CC half eagle shown here can aptly be referred to as a “budget buster” as I got it for an amazingly low price. It was originally housed in an old ANACS holder graded F-15. Almost within a certainty, I knew it had been graded (improperly) on its over-all weaker strike rather than its wear pattern. I resubmitted it to NGC a year after my original purchase and it came back properly graded VF-30. Since then, more than a few knowledgeable numismatists have examined this coin and all feel that it’s very solid for its grade. Of course when dealing with a coin at this level of rarity each grade hike significantly enhances its value. So in my case, after a grade hike from F-15 to VF-30, was I happy with my purchase? Yes indeed I was!


There is one die variety currently known and two die states. (Die varieties and states courtesy of Gold Coins of the Carson City Mint by Douglas Winter edited by James L. Halperin)

My coin is a Variety 1-A (as described below). Note: Because of the wear coincidental to its grade (VF-30), it simply isn’t possible (for me anyway) to discern its correct die state.

VARIETY 1-A: “On the obverse, the date is fairly high and slants downwards slightly to the right. The 1 is fairly close to the neck while the 0 is distant. There are light die file marks from the point of the coronet through the sixth star to the rim. On the reverse, the mintmark is high. The first C is higher than the second and nearly touches the arrow feather. The second C is close to the olive branch but does not touch it. All known examples show a raised die defect just below the S in the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. This same defect is seen on the reverse of some 1871-CC and 1873-CC half eagles, proving that this reverse was used from 1870 to 1873.”

Die State I: “The centers are mostly well impressed.”

Die State II: “Weakness of strike is noted at the central obverse and, especially, at the center of the reverse. On some coins, there will be no detail on the neck of the eagle.”



It’s always fun to include some world events when dealing with your prized coins’ birth year; it brings to mind the state of the world and the over-all feeling of those days gone by. Something tangible and special, still existing from those days and events that you hold right in your hand!


1870 HISTORICAL EVENTS:

JANUARY: John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil Company

FEBRUARY: The first coins bearing “CC” mintmarks are issued from the Carson City mint

FEBRUARY: Mark Twain (age 34) marries Olivia Langdon in Elmira, NY

APRIL: Metropolitan Museum of Art forms in New York City

JUNE: Running of the 4th Belmont: W Dick aboard Kingfisher wins in 2:59.5

JUNE: Richard Wagner (1813-1883) opera Die Valkyrie premiers in Munich Germany

JULY: Georgia becomes final confederate state to be readmitted into the US union

AUGUST: Prussia defeats France (battle of Spicheren) in the Franco-Prussian war.

OCTOBER: Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) gives first public piano concert in Vienna (age 10)

DECEMBER: The 12.8 kl long Frejus rail tunnel through the Alps is completed



By Michael Parrott the drummer

Michael,

You have captured the essence of some of the rewarding experiences available to coin collectors, especially collectors passionate about "CC" coinage. Owning these prized coins is one thing. Tracing their histories, synthesizing the people, events, and culture of the times in which the coins were made, and providing pertinent collector-related information are the things that add value to the ownership of them.

It is the same in any field of interest. If, for example, I like to watch professional baseball or football games, I can simply watch them on TV or in person and be satisfied with the experience. Yet, on the other hand, I can dig deeper and study the statistics inherent in each sport, learn who the All-Star and Hall-of-Fame players are, and find out how each sport got started. If I like music, say music from the Beatles, I can listen to the songs and experience the in-the-moment pleasure of doing so. Or I can also read biographies and histories of the group, and books about the back-stories on how the songs came to be written.

This behind-the-scenes information is what makes any subject more interesting. As collectors, we can tell the stories about the histories, pedigrees, and statisitics behind our coins over and over and never tire of it.

You Michael have personified the meaning of passion in this COTW posting. Good job!

All of the COTW participants have kept the torch burning during this 111-week project (we should be approaching week 50) by adding their own unique perspectives on the coins which they have profiled. The fire that burns within each one of the COTW participants needs to be passed on and on and on. Those of us who love "CC" coins will never tire of reading (anything) about them.

Rusty

Thank you for your most kind and gracious words.

You Carsonite, are a great teacher, friend and mentor. In addition to being a world class numismatist, you have that very rare gift of leadership and teaching ability....very few of us can say that we truly possess the special skill it takes to be a true teacher. Many are called, few are chosen.

I have learned much from you about coins (especially "CC" coins), how to write articles and COTW posts....I still have a long way to go but with your encouraging guidance I know I can go farther still...These words from you mean so much.

I really put my all into this particular COTW post. 1870 is such a special date for Carson City and all things related, I felt that it warranted that effort. Knowing that you appreciate that effort makes me feel like a million my friend. And I am proud and honored to be your friend.

Michael the drummer

I just want to second Carsonite's assessment of your article and add that it is gratifying to know that you have such a passion for Carson City half eagles and that an entire set has been entrusted to your care.

I noticed an interesting characteristic of your coin. It appears to be struck off center between 10:00 and 12:00. Can you confirm that?

Thank you for your words Garry. They really are very appreciated.

In answer to your question about this 1870-CC $5 being struck slightly off-center...boy do I wish it was...that'd be very cool to have an error like that, especially on this important and rare date.
Alas, tis not so. NGC holders, particularly these older ones (without "spokes" that the new holders have) are very difficult to photograph, at least for me. because of their deeper inset (lacking on PCGS holders) the light and shadow creates this "off-center strike" effect. I took literally hundreds of light varying shots of this coin and could not rid myself of the annoying "NGC shadow"....

Again, thank you Garry. It is members like you that make our C4OA so great.

Michael the drummer

P.S. What do you think about our dear Abe Curry being so family connected to one of the great American jazz giants of all time?

Yes that is quite a coincidence. Cal has been gone a long time.