1879-CC Morgan Silver Dollar. Clear CC. MS-64 (PCGS). This beautiful near-Gem is intensely lustrous with a frosty finish to both sides. Lightly toned around the peripheries in iridescent champagne-pink, the centers are untoned with silver-white brilliance. Sharply to fully struck throughout with smoother, more carefully preserved surfaces than many survivors of this semi-key date CC-Mint Morgan dollar issue.<p>After a promising start with 2,212,000 coins struck in 1878, Morgan dollar production at the Carson City Mint fell off markedly the next year. Only 756,000 pieces were produced in 1879, and mintages would continue to fall through 1881. Despite its proximity to Nevadas rich silver mines, the Carson City Mint was forced to play second fiddle as much of the bullion mined was sent to the more distant San Francisco Mint for coinage. There was so little bullion on hand at the Carson City facility throughout 1879, in fact, that the presses were still for much of the year. In our August 2013 sale of the Battle Born Collection, Rusty Goe reported that Superintendent Crawford received orders from his superiors in Washington, D.C. to cease coinage operations in April and lay off workers. The presses in Carson City remained idle until August, after which only 210,000 additional silver dollars were struck before the end of 1879; these added to the 546,000 coins struck prior to the Mints cessation of operations in April constituted the mintage for the year.<p>With a far smaller percentage of the mintage finding its way into numismatic hands through the GSA sales of the 1970s, the 1879-CC is rarer than the lower mintage 1880-CC, 1881-CC and 1885-CC in Mint State. This issue, in fact, is the scarcest Carson City Mint Morgan dollar of the 1878 to 1885 era. With strong candidacy for inclusion in an advanced Morgan dollar set, we certainly anticipate strong interest in this offering. From the Naples Bay Collection. From the Naples Bay Collection.
