1875-CC Seated Dime CC Coin of the Week Sept. 12, 2010

The 1875-CC dime is a very interesting coin. The total mintage that year was 4,645,000, and the survival rates are relatively high which makes for a reasonably priced coin.

The coin comes in two varieties. During the first half of the year, the mint mark was placed within the wreath. This had never been done before or since, and the only time the mintmark was placed anywhere other than beneath the reverse devices close to the rim. Apparently, the mint mark placement did not go over well and the mint mark was placed in its customary position halfway thru the year.

Rusty Goe reports that approximately 30% of the total mintage is the Below Wreath variety. The survival rates bear that out. Approximately 9,000 to 16,000 Above Wreath coins survive and approximately 3,500 to 7,000 Below Wreath coins survive. I like that since I think the Above Wreath is the most interesting variety.

1875 was a busy year for the Carson City Mint. Dimes, Trade dollars and half dollars all broke the 1,000,000 mintage mark, with dimes far and away the most productive. James Crawford had taken over the duties of Superintendent the year before. Despite the constant threats to shut down the Mint due to expectations that the silver supply would run out, the Mint chugged on and was very productive in 1875 and beyond. 1875 had seen a seven fold increase in coinage, from 1.5 million in 1874 to 7.6 million in 1875. This carried over through 1878.

Did you know that the diameter of a dime is 17.91 millimeters? Why do I say that? Well, on May 20, 1875, the Metre Convention was held in Paris. Seventeen countries signed the treaty establishing the International Bureau of Weights and Measures to oversee the keeping of standards for weights and measures. The U.S. was among them. Currently about 54 countries have signed on.

Here is a nice Above Wreath 1875-CC dime, PCGS MS65.

Garryn,

You are featuring a "fun" coin. It has two varieties that everyone can appreciate, they are readily visible, unique and within reach of most collectors.I was not interested in "little" coins until I joined this Forum and read "The Mint on Carson Street" By Rusty.
Above are two coins that I have.


John Armonas

Notice John, your Above Bow coin is different than the one I posted. Yours has wider spaced mintmarks. There are even two varieties of the Above Bow dime.

Otherwise your coins are a nice matched set.

Great article Garryn on a most interesting coin. I wonder who's idea it was at the Carson mint to strike the mintmarks above the bow? I'll bet some heads rolled on that decision! The powers in washington certainly didn't care for it but then they didn't care for much of anything when it came to the mint on Carson Street?

I'm glad that someone back then bent the rules a bit...now we have a most interesting coin type from someone's coin "experiment" in 1875.

I love the toning on your example Garry

Michael the drummer

Thanks Mike.