1875 was a busy year for the Carson City Mint. Dimes, Trade dollars and half dollars all broke the 1,000,000 mintage mark, with dimes far and away the most productive. James Crawford had taken over the duties of Superintendent the year before. 1875 had seen a seven fold increase in coinage, from 1.5 million in 1874 to 7.6 million in 1875. This carried over through 1878. This did not affect quarter production, however. Only 140,000 quarters were struck in 1875, only 6,710 more that year than the short-lived twenty cent piece.
There are only 300-500 estimated to exist in all grades, with 45-70 estimated in uncirculated condition and 50-75 in EF thru AU. Still, this survival rate is more than the prior 5 years combined. This may be why the 1875 does not receive the attention it would if it were not so closely aligned to the previous miniscule mintages.
In fact, Rusty Goe reports in "The Mint on Carson Street" that except for the 1886 Annual Report of the Director of the Carson City Mint, no quarters are reported to be produced in 1874. That report indicated 8,962 were minted in that year. None have ever surfaced.
This reminds me of the age old report that 12,000 business strike 1895 silver dollars were minted. In fact, the mintage is widely believed to be a misstatement based on fiscal year mintage figures. In other words, the last quarter of calendar year 1894 was the first quarter of the 1895 fiscal year. It is possible that the same misstatement occurred with 1874-CC quarters. 16,462 1873-CC quarters would support a misstatement of 8,962 1874-CC quarters in the final quarter of 1873. Note that both numbers end in 62. I wonder if the 1886 report said anything about 1873-CC quarter mintage?
Despite the fact that it is over shadowed by its five big brothers, 1870, '71, 72 and the fraternal twins, 1873, ownership of an 1875-CC quarter is quite an achievement. It is something for every member of the C4OA to srive for.
