1889-CC $1 MS(PCGS#7190)

Spring 2026 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

3072

Grade

MS60

Price

21,600

Lot Description

A noteworthy offering as a certified Mint State example of the key date 1889-CC Morgan silver dollar. This is an essentially untoned coin, both sides revealing only the subtlest hints of iridescent champagne-gold overtones as the surfaces rotate under a strong light source. Mint luster shines forth nicely and the strike is well executed with bold to sharp detail throughout the design. A few faint hairlines in the left obverse field and a light scratch at the front of Liberty's cheek are noted, but otherwise the in-hand appearance is impressively smooth for the assigned grade level.<p>Although it does not have the lowest mintage among CC-Mint Morgan dollars - that honor goes to the 1885-CC with 228,000 pieces produced - the 1889-CC is the scarcest Carson City silver dollar of this type. In addition to a small mintage of 350,000 coins, the 1889-CC suffered an unusually high rate of attrition. While issues such as the 1881-CC, 1882-CC and 1883-CC survived in large numbers in federal storage, only a few 1,000-coin bags of the 1889-CC emerged from government vaults in the decades leading up to the 1960s. By the time the Treasury Department stopped paying out silver dollars in 1964 only a single 1889-CC remained to be dispersed in the GSA sales of 1972 to 1980. What happened to most examples is unknown, although it is likely that much of the mintage was melted, probably as part of the 270,232,722 silver dollars destroyed pursuant to the terms of the 1918 Pittman Act. Given the scarcity of circulated survivors, which are seen less often than those of the 1893-S, the 1889-CC does not appear to have been released into circulation to any great extent. Mint State coins are rare by Morgan dollar standards. We anticipate strong competition for the present example as it finds its way into a new collection.