As my esteemed "Coin of the Week" colleague Mr. Garryn covered last week, the first year of the Morgan dollar minted in Carson City, this week I shall cover the last year of Morgans at the C.C. mint, of all other coins for that matter, as 1893 was the last year of minting operations of our beloved srine in Carson City.
1893 was not a particularly a very pleasant year. One high note being the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago from May 1st to October 30th. A world's fair of sorts that highlighted technology and industry and new innovations "modernizing" those fields.
1893 saw the end of President William Harrison's term and the beginning of the second term of Grover Cleveland, the first and only president to serve two terms that were non-consective.
1893 also saw a dramatic drop in common stock prices, on June 27, there was a panic and before all the dust settled, over five hundred banks would close, fifteen thousand companies would fail, jobs would be lost, even major railroads would go bankrupt or into receivership.
1893 was a dark year, but the light seemed to be on in the Carson City Mint, at least at first.
With Morgan dollars in 1893, the Carson City Mint started off with steady work. In the month of January 130,000 were minted, in February 150,000, in March 140,000, April saw another 120,000 with another 137,000 in May. From June to December, zero, zilch, nothing. The total number minted for the year would finally be 677,000 just from what was produced during the first five months.
In spite of the abrupt halt in production, the 677,000 C.C. Morgan dollars would be the highest mintage number of all U.S. Mints. Philadelphia produced 378,000, New Orleans coming in third with 300,000 and San Francisco, producing the key date of the Morgan dollar series, made just 100,000. Newly elected President Cleveland who was not pro silver, determined, along with a divided Congress, that the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was a failure and definitely needed to be repealed, in November it was. Silver dollar production was suspended, as the mintage numbers show, and the Carson City Mint was finished with its coinage operations. It would only be used then, as an assay office. The Washington boys had finally managed to put the last nail in the coffin of Carson City minting.
Of the 677,000 1893 C.C. Morgans, it is estimated that 12,500 to 17,500 survive in all grades. There was only one 1893-C.C. in the GSA sales. The Redfield hoard had more that one bag but less than two (a bag containing one thousand coins). Many of the Redfield coins are scratched on Liberty's cheek and on the eagles breast, that's thought to be due to a coin counting machine.
The Carson City Mint usually struck decent Morgan dollars, in its final year it produced the worst. A good amount were weakly struck, flat hair above the Liberty's ear with no feather detail on the eagles breast. Fully struck examples are rare but the overall lustrue is very good. Proof likes, though do exist, are quite rare but generally also weakly struck. Overall bag marks are considered to be moderate to heavy.
There were twelve of this branch mint's proofs made in Carson City in 1893 to commemorate the mint's closing and are said to be very deep mirror with good contrast and sharp strikes. That's all I'll say about those in case someone wants to do a C.O.W. on those proofs.
Estimated retail values of the 1893-C.C. Morgans are as follows: G-$180, VG- $240, F- $300, VF- $600, EF $1300, AU50- $2000, AU55- $2400, MS60- $5000.
The Morgan dollar was the only silver coin minted at the Carson City Mint in 1893, there was also the half eagle, the eagle and the double eagle gold coins minted as well. But regardless of that, with the Mint shutting down, the stage lights were turned off, the seats emptied out and the theater doors closed, and the final act on one of the greatest plays of American history comes to a end, as the end to the lore of the ways of the wild west were giving way to the coming technologies of the twentieth century.
