1870-CC Liberty Seated Half Dollar. WB-3. Rarity-6. MS-62 (NGC). One of our most significant CC-Mint offerings not only in this sale, but of the last year. NGC has certified only two Mint State 1870-CC half dollars, both in MS-62, and we have offered both in our last two auction events. The first realized $102,000 as lot 4093 in our August 2021 ANA Auction. The second is offered here, and it is a pretty example with light champagne-pink iridescence to lustrous satin surfaces. Sharply struck with uncommonly strong visual appeal for a BU Carson City Mint silver coin from the pre-1875 era.<p>The first issue in this mintmarked series, the 1870-CC is also the rarest. The Carson City Mint struck 54,617 half dollars in 1870, a generous total at the local level that is greater than the combined mintages for the 1870-CC quarter, silver dollar, half eagle, eagle and double eagle (total: 37,470 coins). Circulation was domestic and intense, there being no contemporary numismatic interest in early CC-Mint coinage. The vast majority of pieces were eventually lost in commerce, and of the 165 to 200 coins believed extant (per Carson City Mint specialist Rusty Goe, 2020) most are well worn, if not also impaired. Exceedingly rare above the basal EF level, Rusty Goe accounts for only four unequivocal Mint State survivors. The ownership of a highly quality 1870-CC half dollar such as this has long been the distinction of an advanced numismatic cabinet.
