1878-CC $20 MS(PCGS#8986)

Spring 2022 U.S. Coins Auction

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

5439

Grade

MS61

Price

120,000

Lot Description

Exceedingly Rare Mint State 1878-CC Double Eagle 1878-CC Liberty Head Double Eagle. MS-61 (PCGS). CAC. A beautiful example with subtle pinkish-rose highlights on dominant golden-apricot color. The surfaces are lustrous, frosty and exceptionally well preserved for an issue that is almost always offered in circulated grades. Sharply to fully struck. The mintage of double eagles at the Carson City facility dropped from 42,565 in 1877 to 13,180 in 1878. Writing in 1988, specialist David Akers noted, "The 1878-CC is a rare date in all grades; in fact, it is the fourth rarest CC-Mint Double Eagle, just nosing out the lower mintage 1879-CC. Virtually all known specimens grade in the F to EF grades and a strictly graded AU is a rarity." Doug Winter and Jim Halperin corroborate this assessment, ranking this issue fourth in rarity out of the 19 Carson City double eagles in their reference The Gold Coins of the Carson City Mint(2001). The most modern scholarship on the issue is that provided by Rusty Goe in his 2020 reference The Confident Carson City Coin Collector, in which he provides an estimate of 475 to 550 survivors in all grades. Only seven to 10 of those are Mint State (again per Goe), and appearances at this level are understandably few and very far between under normal market conditions. The offered coin from the Fairmont Collection is a newcomer to the Condition Census for the 1878-CC that would do justice to the finest specialized collection. Provenance: From the Fairmont Collection-Hendricks Set. PCGS Population: 4; 2 finer (MS-62+ finest).; CAC Population: 1; 1. PCGS# 8986. NGC ID: 26B4. Click here for certification details from PCGS. Image with the PCGS TrueView logo is obtained from and is subject to a license agreement with Collectors Universe, Inc. and its divisions PCGS and PSA. Click here to see Coins in Motion.[“Coins]