1876-CC Liberty Seated Half Dollar. WB-33. Rarity-4. Small CC. MS-65 (PCGS).This vividly and attractively toned example is layered in awash in competing swirls of blue-gray and reddish-apricot patina. Sharply struck with full mint frost, both sides are uncommonly smooth for a survivor of this otherwise readily obtainable Carson City mint half dollar issue. At 1,956,000 pieces produced, the 1876-CC has the highest mintage among Carson City Mint half dollars. All three operating mints (Philadelphia, Carson City, San Francisco) ratcheted up half dollar production in 1875 in anticipation of parity being achieved between Legal Tender notes and silver. When this occurred on April 20, 1876 silver coins were able to circulate in the East and Midwest for the first time since their withdrawal early in the Civil War. What the Treasury Department did not anticipate was that the achievement of parity in the market resulted in an influx of previously minted silver coins that had been hoarded throughout the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Faced with a glut of older half dollars, there was little need for new coinage and circulation strike production fell off markedly beginning in 1878. The introduction of the Morgan silver dollar that year and the need for the mints to strike large numbers of that coin also contributed to paltry half dollar deliveries through the end of the Liberty Seated series in 1891.<p>While plentiful in an absolute sense by Carson City Mint half dollar standards, the 1876-CC is scarce in Mint State relative to the strong collector demand for such pieces. In the finest grades, as here, this issue is nothing short of rare and represents a fleeting bidding opportunity for the advanced collector whenever an example appears at auction.PCGS Population: 9; 10 finer (MS-66 finest).From the Marc D. Cohen Collection.
