1871-CC $5 Gold CC Coin of the Week - 9-26-2010

1871-CC $5 Liberty Gold Piece




…from the drummer collection


1871 – The second year of production at the Carson City mint

With an original mintage of 20,770* the 1871-CC half eagle is the most available of the first four Carson City half eagles that were struck from 1870 to 1873. Despite that, it is still a scarce coin.
On the heels of that magical 1870 inaugural year of the Carson mint, 1871 could’ve easily become a disaster. Thankfully, it was not. Several of the Washington D.C. elite were actively seeking to shut down operations at the Carson mint facility. The Carson mints’ very existence was hanging by a thread-hair probably more than most of us know.


Abraham Curry moves on

With his amazing accomplishment of founding the mint on Carson Street and all the hoopla and festive celebrations behind him, Abe Curry was ready to hand the reins to others and move on to his next life-challenge. Abe seemed to always be on the lookout for big new projects. He resigned his position as mint superintendent in September 1870 and his friend, a Carson City Wells Fargo agent H. F. Rice was installed as his successor. Rice served the Carson mint superintendent position until June of 1873 when amid some never proven controversy he resigned the post. Abe began his venture into the world of politics as he sought the seat of lieutenant governor for the state of Nevada but lost to Democrat Frank Denver. Abe then returned to his original profession as a building contractor and completed several Carson City building projects before his death in 1873.


“Opening night jitters”

It is well-known in my own personal field of entertainment that the second night is the one that is ripe for the disaster known as the “train wreck.” Much time, effort and preparation is put forth for the opening night of a challenging show. Once those “opening-night-jitters” are out of the way, and if the opening night is a huge success , there can be a tendency to let-down (or over-relax) on the following second night. It’s always that “second night” where the over-relaxing can cause things to fall apart. In the case of the Carson City mint, the “opening night-jitters” was the first year – 1870, and it was indeed a huge success. The “second night” was of course the year 1871. Amidst the turmoil of the new changes, 1871 did get off to a bit of a sluggish start for coin production at the new Carson facility. Later in the year, production levels began to pick up and by the end of the year, mintage figures were considerably higher than 1870 levels. Check Rusty Goe's book The Mint on Carson Street if you seek the exact figures.
1871 also saw seated dimes begin their production run at the Carson mint (1871-1878), so now there were seven denominations in total being struck in Carson City.


SILVER:
SEATED DIMES – SEATED QUARTERS – SEATED HALF DOLLARS – SEATED DOLLARS

GOLD:
HALF EAGLES – EAGLES – DOUBLE EAGLES


H.F. Rice was now at the helm, the “opening night jitters” were out of the way and all was well.



The 1871-CC half eagle

The general over-all strike of the 1871-CC half eagle is sharper than on the 1870 issue. Obverse weakness can usually be found on the curls around Liberty’s face and ear, and on the top of her head. The reverse side often shows weakness on the eagle’s neck and wingtips. 1871-CC half eagles, as well as just about all 1870’s era “CC” gold coins, were placed into circulation and used heavily by the people of their day and thus show the bag-marks so common for those issues. Most examples have been cleaned at one time or another in the past. Add all these factors together and you have a date that can often be difficult to grade properly. I’ve seen a few choice examples with beautiful frosty luster; I’ve even examined one with a beautiful semi-prooflike reflective quality. Uncleaned examples, the few that exist, are colored a rich yellow to orange-gold and some are known to have nice coppery toning. In general, the 1871-CC half eagle has a slightly higher level of eye appeal than most other half eagles from the early years of the Carson mints’ production.



My 1871-CC half eagle example…

My Variety 1-B* example shown here is housed in an old green PCGS holder graded VF-25. I purchased this coin in April of 2004 from Southgate Coins in Reno, NV. I believe that the grade is pretty accurate in terms of wear and strike characteristics. It has better than average detail for this grade. Yes, it has some common contact marks but nothing out of the ordinary or worthy of mention. Its color is a rich, subdued orange with some of the typical tobacco toning typically found on many early “CC” gold coins. The reverse shows small pockets of original remaining luster. There are no major problems with the coin and all-in-all it’s well matched to the other 18 coins in my “CC” half eagle set.


Survivors, Prices and Varieties*

There are an estimated 140 to 175 1871-CC half eagle survivors remaining on planet earth today:


Uncirculated: 3 to 4 - Priced from $60,000 plus

XF to AU: 60 to 90 - Priced from $3,000 to $12,000 plus

VF and lower: 80 to 85 - Priced from $1,000 plus



There are two known die varieties:

Variety 1-A: “The date is positioned slightly closer to the bust than to the denticles. It is closely spaced and slants down to the right with the 71 very close at the top. On this variety, the reverse is the same as found on the 1870-CC half eagle. The quality of strike is similar to that described for the Die State I coins for 1870-CC with sharp feather detail on the eagle’s neck.”

Variety 1-B: “The obverse is the same as on the other variety for this year. On the reverse, the mintmark is level and positioned more to the right than on the other variety. All known examples have a clashmark from the eagle’s beak to the right wing and there is a raised die mark under the S in TRUST.”

*Mintage/Survivor figures courtesy of The Mint on Carson Street by Rusty Goe
Pricing figures courtesy of U.S. Coin Digest
Variety descriptions courtesy of Gold Coins of the Carson City Mint by Douglas Winter – Edited by James L. Halperin



Virginia City and the Comstock Lode


Most times that I travel to this wonderful area I stay in Virginia City, the very heart of the famous Comstock Lode. It’s a pretty high probability that most of the gold and silver in “CC” early issue coins came from the Comstock mines. I feel like my coins are truly at home whenever I’m here. Several times I’ve visited the old cemetery at American Flat where most of the Comstock miners were laid to rest. Many of those miners were of Cornish or Welsh heritage and most died at what we would consider an early age (30 to 50 years). These are the very people who labored their lives away extracting the precious metals from the earth that make up the beloved coins in our collections. I walk among their eternal sites with great reverence, humbleness and awe. I am on their turf; I view the same scenic mountains they viewed; I walk the very earth they walked; I breathe the air that they breathed; I feel the same sunshine and breezes they felt.
Coin collecting is many different things to many different people, for me, this is what Carson City coins are about….this is what history is to me.



1871 Historical Events


January 17: First cable car is patented by Andrew S. Hallidie (begins service in 1873)

March 17: National Association of Professional Baseball Players is organized

June 10: 5th Belmont: W. Miller aboard Harry Basset wins in 2:56

July 3: Jesse James gang robs Obocock Bank in Corydon Iowa for $45,000

October 27: William Macy Tweed (Boss tweed), Democrat leader of Tamany Hall arrested after NY Times exposes his corruption

November 3: Henry M. Stanley in Tanganyka Africa says “Dr. Livingston, I presume?”

November 5: Susan B. Anthony arrested for trying to vote in Rochester NY

December 24: Giusseppi Verdi’s opera Aida premiers in Cairo Egypt at the Suez Canal opening


by Michael the drummer

Hi Garryn

Southgate Coins has 3 1874-CC half eagle beauties for sale right now.
NGC-AU 50; NGC-AU 55 and a fabulous PCGS AU-58

All three are high-enders

Oohhh.....If only I could upgrade right now......

Michael the drummer

Michael,

It is always a pleasure to read a profile about a coin that captures the total collecting experience. After the survival estimates are given, the varieties are discussed, the grades are determined, and the prices are established, we can add value to our hobby by interweaving historical information from the times in which the coins were made.

Throw in some human-interest stories about certain characters involved and include a personal touch from the writer's background ("opening night jitters")) and we have something inspiring to read.

Good job on all counts Michael!

All of the 50-plus COTW profiles have brought something personal and interesting to this impressive project. Look for the fall-winter issue of Curry's Chronicle ,due out in early November 2010, for a brief shout-out to all of the participants in the COTW project.

Rusty

Hi Carsonite

Thank you for your kind and inspiring words. It is very encouraging to a non-pro writer like me to get that special kind of encouragement from a much more seasoned writer like yourself.
As you know, much time is put into these posts and to know that they are appreciated by folks like you makes me feel like a million!

the drummer:cheer:

Michael-
A very interesting article. I found your views on Virginia City and the Comstock Lode most profound. I know exactly what you mean as I share the same feelings. Your words could not have cought the essence of that place and those times any better. I first visited V.C. when I was a teenager, and was amazed. I have been back more times that I can count and each time I get the same thrill and awe as I did the first. It is a remarkable place. When my retirement time comes, I have the dream on living there. And thank you for your commitment to the club.
-Randy-