1870-CC 25c Carson City Coin of the Week -Aug 22, 2010

1870- CC 25c Part One



It was late afternoon by the time I wandered over to the next bourse table in yet another of the seemingly endless rows of dealers. My feet were sore and the day's A.D.D. meds, taken 11 hours earlier, were providing about as much help as the over taxed air conditioning in the exhibition hall.

I had been with a bunch of C4OA guys earlier, but for the last couple hours, I've been trudging around on my own without seeing anything of interest for my Carson City silver coin collection. Seriously considering heading for the barn, I decided to check out just one or two more dealers before giving up the quest. Little did I realize that I was about to get a serious boost of adrenalin.

This was my first experience at a really big coin show. Moreover, this was my first coin show ever as a member of the Carson City Coin Collectors Club of America. In the days and weeks leading up to this national ANA event, my expectations had been soaring, especially since being invited to tag along with Rusty Goe and his entourage. Entering the exhibition hall that first morning, I was absolutely sure that before the weekend was over, I would own with several new Carson City minted coins for my collection.

Now, late on the second day and an eternity of frustration later, such naivety had completely evaporated. Combined for both days, I had viewed exactly six decent Carson City minted coins for sale. Three of these were priced for King Faruk, another was being considered by Rusty, and the last I already owned. Note that I am not a big Morgan silver dollar collector so, these six did not include the dozens, or perhaps it was hundreds, of CC Morgans displayed in Vam-tastic splendor at many of the tables.

There I was, leaning against yet another finger-smeared, glass display case, more for physical support than because I expected to see anything of interest. Most of the coins staring back at me were uncirculated, gleaming commoners as well as stacks of the new Buffalo $50 gold piece that everyone was lauding over that weekend. So, when my eyes picked up the somewhat dull, grey surface of a single, well-worn, encapsulated coin sitting askew back in the corner of the display case, it stood out clearly in its smudged, glass casement.

Trying to focus my tired eyes, you can imagine my astonishment when I realized that staring back at me was a very special Ms Liberty, this one firmly seated above the numbers 1 - 8 - 7 - 0 residing in a PCGS VF graded, quarter dollar holder displaying those two magic symbols in the typed description..."C C". Complete recognition came slowly as my Adderall deprived brain finally registered that I was looking at an extremely important and very rare Carson City silver coin.

About now, you are probably expecting me to describe the coin in detail, or perhaps share the thrill experienced by emptying my checking account in exchange for the coin's ownership. Sorry, you'll have to find some other coin collector's article for that kind of classic ending because I'm going to disappoint you.

Rather than patiently asking to view the coin or, inquiring about its pedigree, asking about its condition, discussing the price or anything half-ways intelligent,I totally blew it. I was so in awe of the coin that I became tongue tied and afraid I would say something stupid, messing up the opportunity. Blowing the opportunity is exactly what I did, but I did not have to utter one word to accomplish this feat. Instead, five seconds after recognizing the coin, I rushed off to announce my incredible discovery to Rusty and group. My only thought was to find someone who knew how to go about acquiring such a formidable rarity.

I found Rusty Goe patiently talking with a dealer. Not wanting to interrupt, I stood behind him pretending nonchalance while mentally willing his discussion to end. After an excruciating two minutes, I got lucky. I recognized veteran CC collector and senior C4OA member Michael Parrot strolling up an isle nearby. Without hesitation I dragged Michael, better known in C4OA circles as the "Drummer", back to the dealer's booth with the 1870-CC Quarter. No more than ten minutes had elapsed since I had read that wondrous PCGS label "1870-CC 25c", but incredibly, when I returned, the coin was gone .

The guy behind the counter wouldn't even acknowledge the coin had been in his case fifteen minutes earlier! Depressed and slightly embarrassed, I had just learned a poignant lesson emphasizing the rarity, illusiveness and frequent mystery surrounding Carson City coins. The instructor was one of a very small number of remaining 1870-CC Quarter Dollars, the Carson City Coin of the Week for August 22, 2010.

Like many of the coins minted at Carson City, the 1870-CC Quarter has more than one mystery in its biography and I would like to address a couple of these in this Carson City Coin of the Week article. One of the most discussed ambiguities surrounding the 1870-CC Quarter concerns the question of their survival and if this first year Carson City product was actually released to the public.

A person studying this coin might start by reading about this date in Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of US and Colonial Coins. In this classic reference book, Mr. Breen states that the Carson City mint's Superintendent, Abe Curry, was under orders from the Director of the Mint (Pollock) not to release small denomination coins to the public. Adding credibility to Breen's supposition is the fact that at that time in 1870, the silver in every coin was actually worth slightly more than the denomination's face value, causing a small loss for each coin produced.

Here, we encounter one of the first mysteries surrounding the 1870-CC Quarter. If Breen's theory is correct, why did Mr. Curry produce any quarters in the first place? Furthermore, why would the Carson City mint superintendent authorize the production of 1870-CC Quarter twice more during the year if he knew he was not even supposed to release the first batch of coins?

I'll add yet another question to the mystery. It's common knowledge that the Director of the Mint, James Pollock, was against the construction of the Carson City mint in the first place and continued to negatively influence anything to do with the Nevada branch mint. When in 1869, enough red bricks could not be found locally to complete the mint's chimney , the facility's opening date was delayed and dragged into 1870. Why then did Mint Director Pollock bother to authorize expensive replacements for the unused 1869 dies with new 1870 dies for the quarter, if he already had, or was about to, issue an order not to release small denomination coins? The construction delay together with the wasted dies seems like the perfect excuse for Pollock to ring the death knell for at least the 1870-CC Quarter, even if the other higher denominations went ahead as scheduled.

Over three thousand 1870-CC Quarters coins were minted in April, one thousand four hundred in May with a third and last minting late that summer. In all, 8,340 quarters dated 1870 were minted, yet no one really knows if, or how many, were actually released into the economy.

Generations of numismatists have not been able to find the answers to these mysteries surrounding the 1870-CC Quarter. Clearly, it's time to call in a dedicated and brilliant sleuth whose contemporary investigative techniques will surely unravel these century old questions.

"Watson, hand me my pipe... and my copy of The Mint on Carson Street."

In Rusty Goe's quintessential reference about the Carson City mint and its coinage, we learn that 40 coins were held back from the first group of 3,540 quarters minted on April 20th 1870. Ostensibly, they were set aside for assay inspection. But mint regulations required an assay holdback of one coin for every two thousand minted. Therefore, it seems pretty clear that 90%, or more, of the 40 coins removed from that first batch must have been intended for gifts or something else other than assay. The other 3,500 were not to be released, per the big boss back east. Presumably, they were carted off for storage in the mint's vaults, or where they?

An examination of the remaining population of 1870-CC Quarters in 2010 as described in the next paragraph, seems to indicate that more than 40 examples of the 1870-CC Quarter were ultimately released, adding even more haze to the few solid facts available.

The census records of PCGS, NGC, and ANACS added together indicate a total of 78 coins submitted for certification. The spectacular Clapp -Eliasberg MS-64 coin leads the pack by a very wide margin with the next lower graded coin an AU-55. There is one more at AU-53, two at AU-50 and another dozen or so grouped around XF-40 - 45. Finally a large group of over 30 coins is graded between F and VF with all the rest at VG or below.

Your intrepid investigator does not have enough coin collecting experience to accurately estimate the number of potential duplicates included in the total of 78 submissions, inclusive of all three services. Logically then, the next best thing is to make a wild guess. Hmmm, let's see... I think I'll toss out one third of the 78 submissions as either duplicates or crossovers. That would leave us with about 52 legitimate 1870-CC Quarters floating around out there in various types of plastic holders.

About now, my dear Watson, even the Coppers over at Scotland Yard should see the point of this first exercise. An extant population of 52 would be too large if the only coins released were those first 40 coins set aside for assay and gifts. At the same time, 52 coins extant is most likely too small a remaining population if Mr. Curry went ahead and released the other 8,300 1870-CC Quarters. Watson, maybe we'd better find an easier assignment!

I say Holmes, it's doubtful that real numismatists use wild guesses in their analysis. How can we correctly analyze the prevailing opinion that only 40, 1870-CC Quarters, or less, were ever released.

Elementary my dear Watson! First, we'll calculate what percentage of the original 8,340 coins is represented by today's certified population of 1870-CC Quarters. Next, we'll compare that percentage with the same calculation for the two 1870 Carson City silver denominations that we know were released into circulation, the half dollars and the dollars. Again, I've combined the submission totals from all three certification companies, PCGS, NGC and ANACS for this exercise. Without deducting for estimated multiple submissions, my trusty slide rule deduced the following;

1870-CC 25c - 8,340 Minted - 78 Submissions - 0.94% of Mintage

1870-CC 50c - 54,617 Minted - 209 Submissions - 3.8% of Mintage

1870-CC $1 - 12,462 Minted - 820 Submissions - 6.6% of Mintage

PCGS,NGC & ANACS Census Expressed as a Percentage of Original Mintage


Aha! Look at these figures Watson. The materially smaller survival percentage for 1870-CC Quarters as compared to the other silver denominations supports the supposition that only the tiny group of 40 assay and gift coins were ever released. No wonder this Goe fellow from the King's colonies agrees with that theory.

But Holmes, what if Abe Curry released only the first group of coins minted and not the other two production groups? The 78 submissions would then represent 4.5% of the 3,540 released coins, a figure much more in line with the survival experience of the 1870-CC Quarter's two big brothers, the half dollar and dollar.

A credible retort Watson! Perhaps though, your argument simply muddies the water further. Let me think about this further my dear man. Here's two pence, be a good man and bring back some tea along with the morning paper.

Pacing the room, Holmes concentrates on the facts hoping to deduce yet another way to sleuth this puzzling CC mystery.

(Soliloquy) I have to assume that a lustrous, first-year coin from the Carson City mint would have been a meaningful keepsake, especially for the local citizenry.
Wouldn't anyone associated through business, politics or simple friendship positively thrill to own such a gift? This 1870-CC Quarter memorializes an important occasion for those simple folk out there in the wild west. If most of the 40 some odd coins released were simply kept as mementos, wouldn't they ultimately have less wear as a group, than the other silver coins sent into the Colonial's quaint local commerce?

Watson, there you are. Thank goodness you've returned quickly. I may have deduced a method that will provide the answer to the question of whether 40 or 8,340 quarters were released in 1870. Have a seat Watson and read the notes I have prepared in your absence.

Query: Compare the extant populations of three 1870-CC denominations to determine their relative degrees of wear as determined by grade.

Subjects:

1870-CC 25c - Presumably never officially released except as gifts.
1870-CC 50c - Released into commerce.
1870-CC $1 - Released into commerce.

Controls: PCGS, NGC and ANACS published submissions, combined. Census divided into four basic groups of wear.

---

1870-CC 25c

---

1870-CC 50c

---

1870-CC $1

AU-50 / Unc.

---

6%

---

10%

---

32%

---

XF 40 / XF-45

---

16%

---

15%

---

22%

---

F-12 / VF-35

---

42%

---

35%

---

31%

---

P-1 / VG-10

---

36%

---

40%

---

15%

---

Percentage of Extant Populations in Each of Four Grade Groupings


Yet again, Holmes has encountered more dead end data. These calculations ultimately show us that the 1870-CC Quarters have more wear, not less! If they had resided in collector's cabinets for a material period of their existence their percentages of wear should look more like that of the 1870-CC Dollar.

Most of us remember Sherlock Holmes was famous for his postulation;

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Unfortunately for Holmes and Watson, very few of the useable facts are definitive enough to come to an absolute conclusion one way or the other. Had the famous duo actually been given this case, it's most likely they would support the consensus of people who believe that only those 40 coins set aside for assay and gifts were ever released. The rest probably went back to the melting pot and ended up as planchets for the 1871-CC silver coins.

There are a few other mysteries and a host of interesting facts yet to be shared on October 3, 2010 when I post part two of the 1870-CC Quarter, The Carson City Coin of the Week.

Belay Off

Great story, Belay. Is the pictured coin yours? Where did you get it?

Well done Belay Off!

The stories and the conjecturing are what add new dimensions to coin collecting.

You have written a great treatment for a Hollywood script. Now we just need to find a producer to sell it to.

When you think how much there is to write about just one of the 111 different date-denomination combinations from the Carson City Mint, you begin to see how vast is the whole subject.

One thing I have discovered is, the more you learn about "CC" coins the more questions are raised. We strain to find crumbs of information that will unlock mysteries about the coins we cherish. So often, we run into brick walls in our searches.

What we would all love is a book of definitive answers to every question we have about everything related to the Carson City Mint and its coins. No such luck. I mean it is not like we are researching the Civil War or another subject with libraries full of information about it. Our searches for information about the Carson Mint and its coins are often as stingy in results as are our searches for the key coins we desire.

In this week's COTW posting you have opened wide the doors for us all to dig deep into the investigative crevices of our minds.

Rusty

Wow Belay

This post here is truly a masterpiece of investigative journalism...where in the heck did you get some of your info? This is simply a fabulous post and chocked full of great info.

In an extremely revealing article, you leave us with a true sense of mystery. Many questions have yet to be answered regarding this important "CC" date. This post's true artistry lies in your telling of the investigative tale, and that's precisely where you truly shine! A very exciting and "fun" read to say the least.

Don't ever worry or wonder about having to "top" any other COTW posts my friend, your work here is exemplary. Man am I glad you found the C4OA and became a member!

Michael the drummer

Hi again Belay

I must add a "P.S." here....I was indeed with you when you excitedly grabbed me to go look at a special "CC" coin....I also remember well both our disappointment when we discovered that the coin (1870-CC quarter was already gone.....sold.....kaput! Dern it anyway....

1870-CC seated quarter dollars in PCGS or NGC holders don't hang around too long, do they?

the drummer

I know what happened! It was the butler, the butler retained the unaccounted for coins! Yes, it had to be the butler.
Seriously Belay, this is some really great stuff. This article shows that your research is only matched by your obivous passion for Carson City coin collecting. A great read. Look forward to Part II.
See you Friday.
-R-