CC Seated Dollars....does anyone know the number known for each date?

[SethChandler-migration]

I have always loved this little short set. Very cool. One of my first "big" coins I ever bought was a 1870-CC in XF when I was younger. Even nice F/VF coins are attractive. I wonder if any of these dates has ever been hoarded? Do any board members own any?

 

Seth

[Tradedollarnut]

I have a CC seated dollar set. I really like them! I wouldn't mind seeing a separate Registry for the CC seated dollars similar to the CC Morgan subset.

[DaveG]

I don't own any Seated CC dollars (I prefer the no-motto Seated coins), but here are Dave Bowers' estimates from his Silver Dollar Encyclopedia:

 

1870-CC - 428 to 635

 

1871-CC - 77 to 131

 

1872-CC - 146 to 224

 

1873-CC - 61 to 92

 

I haven't seen any updated estimates in The Gobrecht Journal, but perhaps someone who's been a member of the LSCC longer than I have has.

[SethChandler-migration]

Thanks for the info, DaveG. I wonder where they came up with the oddball numbers 224,131,etc? And what is behind these estimates?

 

Seth

[Oldtrader3]

DQB states in "The Silver Dollars of the United States", Chapter 1, that Pop. estimates are based on auction appearances, his own experience, other dealers input, etc, etc. In other words, they are an educated SWAG.

 

I would not hang my hat on them. DQB's guess is probably as close as any reliable source can be, but they certainly can be misleading if accepted at face. He also offers advice about being suspicious of Certified numbers as well, having handled several low Pop. dollars himself that had been "Certified" several times at several different grades.

[EVillageProwler]

I own a set of 'em, and they're ok for CC coins. They typically come slightly to very PL in aspect.

 

I can't speak about their total pops, but in slab-able, problem-free condition the '73-CC is incredibly tougher than expected. Both it and the '71-CC are also incredibly rare in true UNC, with something like 2 or 3 specimens each extant. From memory and my own questimate, I'd say about 12 to 18 '72-CC in UNC and about 3 dozen of the '70-CC in UNC.

 

I've had the pleasure of seeing some amazing specimens over the years, including the James A. Stack 1871-CC specimen that sold recently as part of the Rudolf Collection (by Stack's).

 

Since Seth seems to love this small grouping of dates, I'll throw out a trivia question in his honor:

 

Of the four dates, which one is supposedly has specimen or proof strikings? How many legitimate specimens (of the specimen strikings) are claimed to exist? Which numismatist of our generation is the by-far biggest fan of this date?

 

(Ok, so this is more than *one* question!)

 

EVP

 

[Coinosaurus]

The "specimen" story on the 1870-CC dollar can be traced, through various sources, from Weimar White (article in the Gobrecht Journal), back to a Pete Smith article in the Numismatist (Pete is the president of the NBS), back to a book by a Doris Cerveri of Elko, Nevada, who finally cites a contemporary newspaper source (the end of the trail so to speak). I have looked at the newspaper in question and have not been able to corroborate the story (the issue in question is only 4 pages, so I don't think I missed it). So........at this point I see no first-hand documentation of the "specimen" situation. This is not to say that at least one ultra DMPL doesn't exist

 

Another book about Carson City history claims, without citations, that at one point in time, the Carson City mint struck coins on one side, set them aside, and then struck the other side later! I find this hard to believe.....the point being that, don't believe everything you read

 

Regarding how authors come up with population estimates, in this case I suspect that QDB took the mintage figure, multiplied by 1%-2% (the generally accepted survival rate for 19th century coinage) and then tweaked the number based on his own personal experiences.

[Tradedollarnut]

My own 1870-CC is extremely prooflike, but certainly could not be confused with a branch mint proof. It does seem likely, however, that at least a few freshly minted coins would have been set aside for dignitaries to commemorate the striking of a new denomination at the mint. Funny that the highest grade certified is an MS63 for that date, where the others all have at least one specimen higher!

[Coinosaurus]

Reinforcing TDN's argument is that silver dollars were the first coins struck at Carson City. TDN, I have a photo of a DMPL 1870-CC which I think could make 64. The owner is adamant about not getting it slabbed, so don't expect it to show up on the pop reports anytime soon. PM me if you want to see the photo at the ANA.

[Higashiyama]

The fascination with this "short" cc set among board members is neat. I wonder how many of the existing coins are owned by members? I have the two easier coins -- an AU 1870-cc, and an EF 1872-cc.