1880-CC $5 Gold Coin of the Week - 4/10/2011

1880 – Leap Year

1880 was a leap year starting on Thursday; (Tuesday on the 12-day slower Julian calendar.)

1880 was also a US presidential election year. President Rutherford B. Hayes had promised not to run for re-election and he was true to his word.

An American Presidential Election Year

The Republican candidate’s team of James Garfield (President) and Chester Arthur (Vice President) narrowly defeated the Democrat team of Garfield’s fellow Civil War Union General friend, Winfield Hancock (President) and William English (Vice President).
The nation’s popular vote had the two parties dead-locked at 48.3% while the Electoral College results heavily favored the Garfield Republicans (214 to 155).
Surprisingly, Nevada which was considered a predominately Republican state back in those times carried the Democratic ticket.
As we all know, the Garfield presidency was cut short by tragedy early in 1881 when Charles J. Guiteau shot President Garfield on the morning of July 2, 1881 at the Baltimore-Potomac train station. Garfield languished in pain for over two agonizing months. His short-lived presidency lasted only 200 days from March 4, 1881 to Sept. 19, 1881.

James Abram Garfield - 2oth President of the United States (1831-1881)



The Year was 1880

1880 was located smack dab in the 50-60 year period known as the “Gilded age”….a term penned by the famous Mark Twain. In 1871, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) satirically wrote; “What is the chief end of man?” “To get rich” “In what way?” “Dishonestly if he can, honestly if he must.” This statement fairly sums up his general views of this time period in which he lived. No matter, 1880’s America was in the post-Civil War era of great industrialization and economic growth. Railroads continued to grow and the oil industry was still young. John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company controlled over 90% of the oil market worldwide. New methods for refining oil produced Kerosene which helped to drop the price of oil. The whaling industry was severely weakened when the need for whale oil was all but eliminated.



The Long Winter

The winter of 1880 was noted for the “Blizzard of 1880” as heavy Midwest and east snowfall began in October and continued throughout the winter. This inspired the famous American writer Laura Ingalls Wilder to write her book The Long Winter. Another former Civil War Union General, Lew Wallace, the Governor of New Mexico in 1880, wrote his famous book Ben Hur, A Tale of the Christ.


Carson City in 1880

The year began in high style with balls and other “leap-year” celebrations. President Hayes, accompanied by prominent Cabinet members and officials (including General William T. Sherman) made a special “high-profile” visit to Carson City. Carson Mint production however experienced a slight tapering off from the previous highs it had enjoyed in the preceding several years.
James Crawford, the 4th superintendent of the Carson City mint turned 47 years of age. Since assuming this prestigious position at the facility in September of 1874, this most enabled leader had never before seen coin production limited to only three denominations. Despite the high levels of bullion production in the 1870’s, by 1880 it actually appeared that the Silver State was running out of silver! With a shortage of bullion deposits from the Comstock mines, coin production came to a halt on several occasions throughout the year. For the first time in its eleven year history, gold double eagles would not be produced at the Carson mint. It was becoming abundantly clear that the once productive mines of the Comstock were exhausted.
Carson Street looking north (circa 1880's)


King Street in Carson City looking east (circa 1880's)




The Three “CC” Denominations/Mintages of 1880

MORGAN SILVER DOLLARS (591,000)
GOLD HALF EAGLES (51,017)
GOLD EAGLES (11,190)


1880-CC Half Eagle

The original mintage of 51,017 is the highest “CC” half eagle mintage figure to date and is perhaps also the best struck issue to date as well. Despite its high-to-date production figures, only 1% or so of that total figure survives today. Like all “CC” gold issues, locating specimens that are exceptionally clean and with original color can be somewhat difficult.


Comparisons of Gold Half Eagle Production at all US Mints:


Carson City: 51,017
Philadelphia: 3,166,436
San Francisco: 1,348,900

From these listed mintage figures it’s rather obvious that in 1880, the mint on Carson Street was still on the receiving end of US Mint Director Horatio Burchard's “bone-tosses.”


1880-CC $5 Die Marriages and Varieties

Three known die marriages struck from three reverse dies are known. Each of these varieties has their own mintmark placement (see” Die Varieties” below). There are estimated to be 475-600 survivors in all grades. Most are found in the XF to AU grades (300-400). Approximately 20-30 exist in the uncirculated grades. Many coins from this date show strong strike characteristics similar to that seen on 1879-CC $5 pieces. This is certainly one of the best struck issues from the 1880’s decade. Compared to most of the 1870’s dates, there are a relatively high amount of survivors in the uncirculated grades. Striking characteristics that might be considered slightly weak would be found on Liberty’s hair bun and the hair curls around her face.
This date should be given strong consideration to type-set collectors seeking a well-struck, yet affordable Carson City mint half eagle from this decade. There are currently seven examples graded MS-62 all tied for the finest known. NGG lists six and PCGS lists one. In second-place, PCGS and NGC list eleven examples between them graded MS-61. These figures are now a few years old and may be slightly dated.


“Ballpark” Pricing:

VF-20 $450.00 and up
XF-40 $800.00 and up
AU-50 $1,500.00 and up
MS-60 $10,000.00 and way up!


My 1880-CC $5 Liberty Gold Piece – PCGS VF-35 - Variety 1-A*


The coin shown here from my collection is a very nice example for the grade. It has a decent strike with more than adequate detail. The fine hairlines from a long ago cleaning account for its somewhat low VF-35 grade. The surfaces still exhibit a fair amount of luster and the color is a rich honey-gold. Typical to just about every “CC” gold coin within this grade range, my coin suffers the usual surface abrasions and “bag marks” but nothing out of the ordinary. Over-all, this coin is an eye pleasing, problem free example of a great Carson City gold issue and well worth the price paid for it in May of 2004.


1880-CC $5 Liberty Gold Piece




...from the drummer collection


Die Varieties (three currently known)


Variety 1-A* (my coin): “The date is placed slightly below midway between the neck and the denticles below. There are raised mint-made die marks above and below the eye of Liberty, near the mouth and on the neck. The mintmark is small, compact and close to the eagle. The second C is directly over the right serif of the V in FIVE.”

Variety 1-B: “The obverse is the same as on variety 1-A. The mintmark is slightly lower than on reverse A. The second C in the mintmark is directly over the space between V and E and the point of the arrow feather is over the head of the first C. This variety is most easily identifiable by a raised circular die mark just below the tip of the eagle’s right wing.”

Variety 2-C: “The date position is very similar on this variety to that seen on Obverse 1. Liberty appears to be “crying” due to the presence of a series of raised die marks that appear as “tears” streaming from the eye of Liberty. The mintmark is lower than on the other two reverses and positioned over the left and right serifs of the V in FIVE.


Acknowledgements:


Mintage/Survivor Figures and Historical Data; Variety information; Coin Pricing; Photographs and other subject matter in this post courtesy of:

The Mint on Carson Street and James Crawford, Master of the Mint at Carson City – A Short Full Lifeby Rusty Goe

Gold Coins of the Carson City Mint by Douglas Winter (Edited by James L. Halperin)

Wikipedia (history info and photo portrait of James Abram Garfield)

U.S. Coin Digest (coin prices)

U.S. Library of Congress (Prints and Photographs Division-Historic American Buildings)

Nevada State Railroad Museum (Train photograph)





1880 HISTORICAL EVENTS



Jan 1st Building of Panama Canal, begins

Feb 17th Tsar Alexander II of Russia survives an assassination attempt

Mar 31st 1st town completely illuminated by electric lighting (Wabash, IN)

Apr 18th An F4 tornado strikes Marshfield, Missouri, killing 99 people and injuring 100.

May 18th 6th Kentucky Derby: George Lewis aboard Fonso wins in 2:37.5

Jun 1st US census at 50,155,783

Jul 23rd 1st commercial hydroelectric power plant begins, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Aug 14th Construction of Cologne Cathedral (Germany) completed (began in 1248)

Sep 9th President Hayes visits the Comstock and San Francisco

Oct 1st John Philip Sousa becomes new director of US Marine Corps Band

Nov 2nd James A Garfield (R) elected 20th president of the United States

Dec 20th NY's Broadway lit by electricity, becomes known as "Great White Way"



By Michael Parrott the drummer

Drummer, This is a very informative article regarding the life and times of 1880. I really like the way your article was formatted. It is amazing that Guiteau got that close to President Garfield 15 years after President Lincoln was assassinated. Where did you find the street scene photos of Carson City ? I like that sort of stuff for my office. I also would like to complement your coin photos also, it is a great piece of history. It totally blows me away how 51,017 coins were made yet 475-600+ survive, and that they don't seem to reflect that in the prices listed, and that is if you can find one. Thanks again for a very well done COW.

Loosechange

Michael,

You provided us all with many interesting facts about your year of focus and the coin you profiled in this week's COTW post.

Your comparison of mintage figures for 1880 half eagles from the three issuing mints helps put things in perspective. And your comment,

From these listed mintage figures it’s rather obvious that in 1880, the mint on Carson Street was still on the receiving end of US Mint Director Horatio Burchard's “bone-tosses.”

makes an appropriate backhanded statement about the U.S. government's general attitude about the Carson Mint.

You also wrote:

This date should be given strong consideration to type-set collectors seeking a well-struck, yet affordable Carson City mint half eagle from this decade.

which I think is sound advice.

Good job from top to bottom.

Rusty

Hi Loosechange

Thank you for your most kind words. I too am quite surprised that more security was not provided for President Garfield. It goes to show that times have'nt changed as much as some folks might think.

On of the pictures in my COWpost is Carson City Street and it can be seen in Rusty Goe's book The Mint on Carson Street(page 75)
The other street (King St. Carson City) can be found in the Library of Congress. Just go on-line to that site and choose "Prints and Photographs Division Historic American Buildings ...type in the search section HABS NEV, 13-CARCI, 2-2. There are many great old pics on that site...you can spend many fun hours investigating! I've found pictures of Abe Curry...his old home in Carson City (taken in 1873)...mint and capitol building pics and much more.

It's a shame that our government chose to melt so much of our precious and historic gold coins in the 1930's. Another great government blunder...these "CC" coins are part of the heritage of our country. Their actions however have helped to create some of the $$$ rarities we collectors enjoy today. I guess there's always a "give for a take" so to speak.

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed my post. I sure enjoy yours and all the COW posters great articles....this 111-"CC" Coin of the Week program has turned out to be a most fun and special project

the drummer

Hi Carsonite

Thank you for your gracious words about my COW post. In all fairness, I have learned a great deal about all this from and because of you. So..many thanks to you for providing myself (and all of us) this gift of a site to perform these special projects in.

I have noticed that the COW posts have all shown a dramatic improvement over the levels we started the project at. Sometimes just for fun, I go back and re-read the first several posts. One quick comparison is all it takes to see the improvement differences.

Each new COW poster seems to bring a new "twist" to the posts...everybody else picks up on that...then all the posts raise another bar higher. This greatly reflects the positive nature of this wonderful site! Waht a learning tool you have provided for us here! Again, I cannot thank you enough for this.

I'm also glad you enjoyed my slightly "backhanded" remark about our government in 1880 and their disrespectful and shabby treatment of our beloved "CC" mint....it really was true, they did "toss bones" to the Carsonites back then.

the drummer

Thanks Drummer for the info regarding the Library of Congress. I will be looking through those photos and documents and maybe even a future topic to post about. Again great post on the 1880-CC half eagle!

Loosechange