Carson City Mint Coins

The Comstock Lode and a mint in the desert

The silver of the Comstock Lode, found near Virginia City in 1859, made western Nevada one of the richest mining districts in the world. Shipping that metal to San Francisco over the Sierra Nevada was slow and costly, so local leaders pushed for a mint closer to the mines. Congress authorized a branch mint at Carson City in 1863. Abraham Curry, one of the founders of Carson City, supervised construction and became the mint's first superintendent.

The building was designed by Alfred B. Mullett, the Treasury's supervising architect. It was built of sandstone quarried near Carson City. Construction ran from 1866 to 1869. Its first coin press, shipped from Philadelphia, struck the first CC coins in early 1870.

What Carson City struck

Carson City produced dimes, twenty-cent pieces, quarters, half dollars, Seated Liberty dollars, trade dollars and Morgan dollars in silver, plus half eagles, eagles and double eagles in gold. Output was modest next to Philadelphia or San Francisco, which is why most CC issues have low mintages. Production depended on the mines and on politics. Coinage was suspended from 1886 to 1888, resumed in 1889 and ended in 1893, the year Congress repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. The building continued as an assay office into the 1930s.

The original press survived and is still housed in the building, which has been the Nevada State Museum since 1941. It has been used over the years to strike commemorative medallions, so the CC story is still told on the same machine.

The most famous CC rarities

The 1873-CC dime without arrows is known by a single surviving example. The 1876-CC twenty-cent piece had a mintage of 10,000, but nearly all were melted at the mint and only around 20 survive. Among quarters, the 1870-CC, 1871-CC, 1872-CC and 1873-CC without arrows are all great rarities, the last known by just a few pieces. The 1870-CC Seated half dollar and the 1878-CC half are the toughest CC halves. For Morgan dollars the 1889-CC is the key, followed by the 1879-CC and the 1893-CC.

How millions of CC dollars survived

Carson City Morgan dollars were rarely needed in commerce, so a large share of the mintage sat in Treasury vaults for decades. When the Treasury stopped paying out silver dollars in 1964, an inventory found nearly three million CC Morgans still in storage. The General Services Administration sold them to the public between 1972 and 1980, most in hard plastic holders with a black display box and a certificate.

Those GSA coins are why dates such as the 1882-CC, 1883-CC and 1884-CC are easy to find in mint state while being scarce in circulated grades. Coins still in their original GSA holders with matching paperwork carry a premium of their own with some collectors.

Trade dollars and the Seated Liberty years

Before the Morgan dollar, much of Carson City's silver went into Seated Liberty coins and trade dollars. The trade dollar, struck from 1873 to 1878, was a heavier silver coin made for merchants trading in China, where buyers judged coins by weight and fineness. Carson City struck trade dollars every year of the business strike series. Many were shipped west across the Pacific. Some came back with small Chinese chop marks punched by merchants who tested them, which collectors now treat as part of their history rather than as damage.

Buying and checking Carson City coins

The CC mint mark is a frequent target for forgers, who add the letters to a Philadelphia coin or alter a common date. On Morgans the genuine CC sits above the DO of DOLLAR below the wreath. On Seated coins it is below the eagle. Look for consistent letter spacing and shape against known examples and for any seam or discoloration around the letters. For key dates, buy coins certified by a major grading service.

Some Carson City Morgans show a CC punched over an earlier CC, as on the 1879-CC capped die variety. Others are overdates, such as the 1880-CC 8 over 7. These are worth learning if you collect the series by variety.

Frequently asked questions