( Cet article sera bientôt traduit. )
Carson City coins are the darlings of the numismatic world, hailing from a long-defunct Old West mint that has been romanticized by many even beyond the realm of coin collecting. And what’s not to love about the mint whose coins bear the widely familiar and coveted “CC” mintmark? The facility produced some of the most popular coins of all, including the Morgan Dollar and a variety of gold coins beloved by generations of collectors. A great many notable rarities hailed from the halls of the Carson City Mint, including the unique 1873-CC Without Arrows Liberty Dime, the elusive 1870-CC Liberty Seated Half Dollar, and the famous 1889-CC Morgan Dollar – along with a slew of other challenging coins.
It’s therefore little wonder that Carson City coins have a reputation for being expensive in general. And it’s a distinction that mostly rings true. But there are a few exceptions, and one of them comes in the form of the 1877-CC Liberty Seated Quarter. It’s a rather unassuming coin, tucked into a short run of other Carson City quarters that range from equally available to decidedly rare; the 1873-CC Liberty Seated Quarter offers just five known specimens and the 1875-CC is a pricier rarity more in keeping with most other “CC” coins. This isn’t to say the 1877-CC Liberty Seated Quarter is a categorically common coin (it really isn’t). But in the space of Carson City coinage, this one is a relatively affordable offering.
The 1877-CC Liberty Seated Quarter was struck to the tune of 4,192,000 pieces, which isn’t outwardly indicative of a rarity. Yet, PCGS estimates only 3,000 or so examples exist across all grades – a sum that many would suggest isn’t characteristically common either. That puts this issue in something of a sweet spot among vintage coins – scarcer yet approachable. And that’s exactly how the 1877-CC Liberty Quarter could be labeled. In a grade of G4, the 1877-CC Quarter retails for approximately $90. It goes for more than double that in F12, which boasts a $185 price tag. Prices ascend to $375 in XF40 and surpass $1,800 in MS63. The all-time price record for this coin is held by a PCGS MS67 example that crossed the block in 2014 for $38,187.50.