1873-CC Seated Liberty $1 Coin of the Week June 5, 2011

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1873 - A Tumultuous Year

The year 1873 will long be remembered for its controversy, corruption and poor decision making, the results of which were equally damaging to the U.S. economy as well as our country's international reputation.

Within the opening months of 1873, hopes for quality leadership from President Grant's second term began to rapidly decline when his administration became embroiled in a huge financial scandal over railroad stock discounts for congressman. With the critical spotlight on the stock market, other serious concerns began to arise about the integrity and value of other company's stock issuances. As the problems accelerated, the economy weakened. Soon, European investment capital began withdrawing from the stock markets, particularly the New York exchange. By mid-year, the nation's economy was spiraling downward into the full-fledged depression, which eventually became known as The Panic of 1873.

The woeful condition of the U.S. economy dragged on for the better part of five years with residual fallout enduring through the mid 1890's. In the end, the damage toll included thousands of failed American businesses and the loss of millions of jobs for the country's citizens. Such was the state of the nation on the eve of the momentous, and seemingly ill-advised, Coinage Act of 1873.

Elements of the new coinage act had been hotly debated legislation for years. Despite this previous attention, the final act when passed simply added more controversy, confusion and even greater damage to an already depressed economy. It's not surprising that the act soon acquired the derisive moniker, The Crime of '73.


Details of the Coinage Act of 1873 include a host of economic changes, each of which deserves, and has received, volumes of written explanations. However, for purposes of this short article, I will forego the usual explanatory approach about the coinage act's features and impact. Instead, let's imagine how this act would have first been received, and its impact felt by ordinary American citizens.

A Farmer and a Sail Maker

Imagine that one of our subject, American citizens is a farmer in Pennsylvania and another is a sail maker in Maine. For both, it has been difficult maintaining confidence in the country's monetary system. Despite their relatively simple lives, detached as they are from big cities and contemporary politics, both men have already been impacted by the declining economy.

Now, on the eve of what will soon become a major financial depression, how will these ordinary folk respond to the sweeping and complex changes entailed in the Coinage Act of 1873, a controversial piece of legislation that still baffles many of us even today? Briefly, some of the major changes our farmer and sail maker will soon learn about include;

1. Silver is demonetized.
2. Gold is the country's new monetary standard.
3. Legal Tender Issues.
a. The standard Silver Dollar does not have legal tender
status.
b. The new silver Trade Dollar, does have legal tender
status, but cannot exceed $5 in any one transaction
within the US. There are no restrictions when spending
Trade Dollars outside of the US.

Samuel Barrett, works at a shipyard in Penobscot Maine. He supplements his income by making sales for local fishermen. Sitting on the edge of the pier in the Spring of 1873, Samuel is reading about the new monetary laws described on the front page of his month old copy of the Portland Press Herald.

Samuel has just been paid by his employer, and for the first time, the wages include mostly new Trade Dollars, the first Samuel has seen. Thinking out loud, Samuel ponders how the new laws might affect his work...

"Let's see, I can buy one role silk from the mercantile for $4.85 and can pay using five Trade Dollars. I will get 15 cents back. But if I have ten Trade Dollars, I cannot legally buy two roles of silk, since the total would be more than $5.00."

"Can I buy two roles of silk using five Trade Dollars, nine half dollars and two dimes? But wouldn't this also be an illegal transaction because it includes Trade Dollars in a transaction amounting to more than $5.00?"

The article in the Portland Press Herald gives no practical advice on such things. Further complicating the matter, Samuel only attended school for a few years before he began working full time at the shipyards. He does not read very well, and was only able to grasp the general theme of the article.

Picking up his Portland Press Herald, Samuel starts walking in the direction of the Whale's Tail Tavern.

"Maybe one of the others will be able to read all the words", he wonders.


Jacob Bower, our imaginary farmer in Pennsylvanian is deeply troubled. Jacob is an honest, hardworking man, though he is not very worldly. Five generations of Bowers have farmed the same 500 acre homestead and very few of them, including Jacob, had ever had the time, money or cause to travel beyond Newtown Square, the only sizeable town within a day's wagon ride.

While Jacob can read well enough, he rarely gets the opportunity to review current affairs since the region's only news publication, the Newtown Square Reporter is not always operating, nor is the paper delivered outside of town anyway. Jacob lives a straight-forward, uncomplicated life and is a proud patriot of the United States of America. He believes in his country and has total faith in the integrity of its institutions and leaders. Jacob is admired amongst his peers, but would likely be viewed as somewhat naive by the sophisticated citizens of America's larger cities.

Today, Jacob is returning home from a supply run into Newtown Square. While in town, he found a two week old copy of the Newtown Square Reporter. In an article about the new monetary law passed a few months back in February, the editor had listed the law's primary changes, the first of which completely stunned Jacob, causing him to cut his town visit short and head back home without further delay.

During the four hour wagon ride back, Jacob reread the article a half dozen times. He could not understand why his beloved country had betrayed him. Most of his life's savings from thirty five years of hard work had just been wiped out in one fell swoop. Sure, the few gold coins he's socked away remained good but how would he explain to his family that the thousands of silver dollars he had hidden away, and which represented most of his savings, was now just a pile of worthless metal. Lying on the worn buckboard seat next to Jacob was irrefutable evidence. The article's headline read;

Weeks later, Jacob Bower would learn, to his vast relief, that he could still turn in his old silver dollars and receive credit at the bank. He felt less like a fool when the banker explained that most of the bank's customers didn't understand the new coinage law either.

A hundred years later, a considerably more sophisticated member of the Bower family line would write books about the controversial Coinage Act of 1873 and would chuckle when recalling the story of his distant relative's misunderstanding.


Additional Elements of the 1873 Coinage Act

Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, one can appreciate how confused, frustrated and even downright angry many Americans may have become about the Coinage Act of 1873. Consider too, that the act also included the following jeweles;

--Twenty different coin designs minted in 1873 in thirteen different
denominations.
--Three cent pieces and nickels were minted in both silver and nickel.
--Dollars were minted in both silver and gold.
--Weight standards changed requiring many coins to be minted with arrows. But not
every coin minted in 1873 had arrows, including many of the same denomination.
--Silver value declined worldwide with many damaging economic ramifications,
especially for the Western silver producing states.

If all this wasn't confusing enough,The Comstock Act, also passed in 1873, had nothing whatsoever to do with silver, gold or the Comstock region in Nevada. Instead, The Comstock Act was an ultra prudish legislation which rendered the mailing of any and all sexual material illegal, including medical texts.

The damaging effects of the Coinage Act of 1873, were felt for many years to come. Later, legislation such as the Bland Allison Act of 1878, re-monetized silver and required the government to make material purchases of the much beleaguered metal.The Bland Allison Act began to restore some balance, albeit shaky, to our monetary system.


The 1873-CC Seated Liberty Dollar


1873, A Bad Year For Money - A Great Year For Coins

Modern day coin collectors have a very different view of the Coinage Act of 1873. The legislation ultimately created some of the most important, American numismatic rarities of all time, including the Carson City Coin of the Week for June 5, 2011, the 1873-CC Seated Liberty Dollar.

The 1873-CC Seated Liberty Dollar represents the last year of the entire Liberty Seated Dollar series and the fourth lowest mintage* in the seventy-four year run of this magnificent, silver dollar series. * Note - This excludes the 1873-S. 700 were reported minted, though none have ever turned up in any collection.

Despite a miniscule mintage of only 2,300 coins, the 1873-CC Seated Liberty Dollar does not claim the honor of the lowest mintage for Carson City's four year production of the Seated Liberty Dollar. That distinction goes to the 1871-CC Seated Liberty Dollar with a mere 1,376 total production, a number so small, one has to wonder why they even bothered!

Most experts agree that the 1873-CC Seated Liberty Dollar is more rare than its 1871-CC brethren due to aggressive melting of "pre-1873 Coinage Act" coins, including the subject Seated Liberty Dollar. There is no disagreement today, however, that the 1873-CC Seated Liberty Dollar is recognized as the rarest of the four years of Carson City, Seated Liberty Dollar mintage.

Unlike the Trade Dollars which followed, Seated Liberty Dollars were heavily utilized in the country's daily commerce. Without the many Legal Tender restrictions of the Trade Dollar, Seated Liberty Dollars were constantly in circulation, a fact borne out by the wide range of wear found on the extant examples of these big silver coins.


Census and Value History of the 1873-CC Seated Liberty Dollar

Like most Carson City silver and gold coins, the 1873-CC Seated Liberty Dollar has enjoyed a substantial rise in demand and value over the last three decades. The coin's rising value has also served to pull more examples out of hiding and into the known census. To demonstrate these points, I have charted the price rise for the coin over the last century, finishing with three major reference presentations for the 1873-CC Seated Liberty dollar as authored in 1992 by Q David Bowers, in 2003 by Rusty Goe and in 2011 by PCGS Coin Facts. Notice too, the differences in the extant populations over the approximate 20 year period represented in the information provided by these expert sources.

1900 EF - $9 Unc.- $15

1920 EF - $16 Unc.- $25

1940 EF - $30 Unc.- $50

1960 EF - $750 Unc. $1,100

1980 EF - $4,500 Unc. $11,000

1992 - From: Silver Dollars, and Trade Dollars, of the United States
by Q. David Bowers.

Estimated Populations - Bowers does not say one way or the
other, whether his estimate includes all coins, or only those
without problems, i.e., gradable.

Mint State 1 or 2 in MS 60

VF -20 to AU-58 50 to 70
AG-3 to F-15 10 to 20

Value Estimates in 1992

EF - $16,000 Uncirculated - $55,000

2003 - From: The Mint On Carson Street
by Rusty Goe

Estimated Populations - Goe does not include damaged or
problem coins.

Survival Estimate in All Grades - 80 to 100

Mint State - 4 to 6
XF to AU - 45 to 50

Total Certified Extant in All Grades - 89

Value Estimates in 2003

VF - $10,000 MS-65 - $350,000

2011 - From: PCGS Coin Facts + NGC Census & Prices

Total Population Estimates - Regardless of condition.

Survival Estimate - 200

PCGS and NGC Combined Certified Populations

VG to VF - 44
XF to AU - 46
Mint State - 6

Value Estimates in 2011

NGC F - $10,620 MS-63 - $193,750
PCGS XF - $37,000 MS-65 - $600,000


The Cornerstone Coins

In 1973, a one hundred year old home in Carson City was being torn down by a contractor when a time capsule was discovered under a cornerstone placed beneath the home's foundation piers. This was a common practice in the 19th century as was the placement of coins within these time capsules.

The story goes that several new, uncirculated, 1873-CC Seated Liberty Dollars were found within the packet. The silver dollars soon found their way to coin dealers but the trail goes cold after that. No one knows for certain whether one or more of those coins has since entered the known census as a certified coin.

Currently, there are no more than five or six uncirculated examples of this date known. Of these, several can be traced back through their prior owners, well before the cornerstone batch was found in 1973. From the information we have on the Cornerstone Coins, it's reasonable to theorize that not all of them have been brought into public view. Alternatively, the coins may have been presented for certification but found to be less than uncirculated, possibly even damaged or cleaned by the contractors who found them.

One thing is certain, the market values and demand for uncirculated 1873-CC Seated Liberty Dollars was not impacted by this discovery. In The Mint on Carson Street, Rusty Goe dreamily speculates about what might be found should the entire old town section of Carson City be raised to the ground!


Current Auction Prices

The C4OA web site shows Auction Prices of the 1873-CC Seated Liberty Dollar through 2009.

Mar-2009 NGC VF-25 Bowers & Mer. $14,950
Apr-2008 NGC AU-55 Heritage $48,875
Jul-2006 NGC MS-61 Heritage $82,225
Nov-2004 NGC MS-61 DLRC $92,000
Aug-2000 PCGS AU-53 Heritage $81,625
Sep-1998 PCGS MS-60 Bowers & Mer. $64,100

The above auction price chart does not include the sales of problem coins, which there seem to be quite a few. For instance, while researching for this article I reviewed the Archives for Heritage Auctions searching for updated sales of the subject coin, I found the sale records for seven coins sold during all of 2010 through May, 2011. Of these seven, only two had received certified grades by PCGS or NGC, while five were damaged, improperly cleaned or repaired. The two certified examples both sold in 2010 as follows;

VF-25 NGC - $14,375
XF-40 PCGS - $25,300

There are no known varieties for the 1873-CC Seated Liberty Dollar. The lone 1873 obverse die was mated with a single reverse, the "D" reverse die, which was one of the of the original reverse dies sent to the Carson City mint in 1870.

The combination of the 1873-CC Seated Liberty Dollar's numerical rarity within the Seated Liberty Dollar series together with its extreme conditional rarity in grades above AU, combined with the fact that the Seated Liberty Dollar was only minted for four years out of the nineteen production years at Carson City, make the 1873-CC Seated Liberty Dollar one of the most unique and desirable of all Carson City minted coins.

Belay Off


Note 1: Value timeline from 1900 to 1980 from Encyclopedia of Silver dollars and Trade Dollars of the United States, by Q. David Bowers

Note 2: All references to Jacob Bower and his future relatives is purely fictional.

Belay Off, A superb article regarding the 1873-CC Seated Dollar and the history of the time. 1873 seems much like it is now although without the precious metals in our monetary system. Your coin must be condition census, ( what a beauty ) with such a minuscule mintage high grade examples such as yours are a treat to see. A good read regarding the tumultuous time of 1873 is "The Crime of 1873 ". As you stated that any transactions with trade dollars in the US could not exceed $5.00 at one time, makes me wonder why they bothered circulating trade dollars within our borders. I am sure that the Seated Dollars of the time were not readily available especially with the amounts produced. Great job my friend I have learned much from your COW post!!

Loosechange

Belay Off,

You have created a vivid backdrop that includes the social, historical, and economic circumstances that help to explain the environment in which 1873-CC Seated Liberty silver dollars entered the world.

Your use of overlaying fictional characters into the story to help us understand the impact of laws that affected the production---and halt of production---of Seated dollars is effective; it puts a human element into an otherwise abstract subject.

Then you tie it all together with the study of numismatics and what it all means to collectors in the 21st century.

Coins with the rarity status of 1873-CC Seated dollars deserve the benefit of such a treatment as you have provided. Now, if examples of this date were only affordable enough so everyone reading this article could buy one, it would put the icing on the cake!

Excellent job.

Rusty

Very good article , Belay, I like how you weaved in the Coinage Act of 1873, with it's effect on the economy and how it took a toll on the least informed. A very sad situation to be sure.

Wow Belay!

What a fantastic posting. in pure layman's terms, you made me feel what it would be like to have lived during that time. Politicians are still pulling stunts like that even to this day. I guess life in some ways wasn't all that different from how it is now. your fictitious characters became "life-real" in your story, all within a very real history...the makings of a Hollywood movie I believe!

Your article was a most complete and fitting one for that special coin...the end of the line for the liberty seated dollar series..."the dollars of our grandfathers"...

I love the look of your 1873-CC seated dollar too!

the drummer

Thanks for the kudos everyone. The article was fun to write with the slightly different flavor produced by adding the 19th century fictional people into the mix.

Belay Off