1871-CC Carson City Coin of the Week - 7/30/2011

1871 would mark the second year of operation for the Carson City mint. It would also mark the first year of another building of merit that is now a landmark in its own right, the Nevada State Capital building.

Since becoming a state in 1864, it was evident that a state capital building was going to be needed. Abraham Curry felt strongly when he began the city of Carson that his new town would someday be the capital of the state, so strongly that he set aside 10 acres of land in the center of his town as the site for a future capital building. His dream began to be realized when Carson City was made capital of the Territory of Nevada in 1861 and then capital of the State of Nevada in 1864.

An act was signed into law by Governor Henry G Blasdel in 1869 for consturction with $100,000 set for construction costs, money coming fropm a special tax levy and selling of some public lands. Bids were recieved from $84,000 to $160,000 with the contract being awarded to the low bidder, Peter Cavanaugh, a local contractor.

To keep costs down, sandstone blocks from the quarry of the Nevada State Prision (of which Curry was a former warden) were used. Even then, when the building was completed May 1, 1871, the final costs exceeded $170,000, over twice the lowest bid and more that the highest.

In the start of consturction, placed in the cornerstone was a special made brass box which served as a time capsule. Placed inside the box were items about the state and general area such as information on the newly completed V&T Railroad, a copy of the state's constitution, the Enable Act to orginize Nevada's statehood, copies of newspapers, a history of the Carson City Mint and uncirculated examples of an 1870-CC quarter dollar, half dollar and silver one dollar. I don't know for sure just what ever became of that box and the items it contained.

North of this new Capital building about five blocks, another landmark of the city, the Carson City Mint was into its second year of production. Though mintage totals for 1870 were low, 92,791 coins produced, it had proven itself as an able and functional instution, all it needed now was orders to step it up. 1871 would see an increase in production, but only by a little over twice as much at 214,958. Of that 14,687 were gold double eagles. There are several publications that lists the mintage of the 1871-CC double eagle at 17,387 but the offical U.S. mint records since 1887 report it at 14,687. Regardless of it being 17,000 plus or 14,000 plus mintage only about 260 survive in all grades and only a handful of those are uncirculated. These coins most likely saw use in circulation in the West and Nevada area. In rarity, the 1871 is second only to the 1870 of the 19 different dates in the Carson City double eagle series.

The eye appeal of this issue is not so good. While they have a decent strike showing good detail, they suffer from heavy bag marks that atr often deep and very detracting with the obverse fields taking most hits. While there are some spared the bag mark plague, they command very heavy premiums.

The luster of the 1871-CC double eagle is satiny on some and others have a more reflective simi-prooflike look in the fields. Many having been cleaned or because of the abrasion amounts on the surface, have compromised the luster making it hard to locate one of decent luster.

As stated eariler, the strikes of the 1871-CC double eagle are pretty good with the detail in Liberty's hair having good definition, besting most from San Francisco and even those from Philadelphia of the same year. Stars on the obverse are fully defined with full radial lines at the centers. The eagle on the reverse strikes well and with good feather definition but sometimes weakness can show on the scroll with "E.PLURIBUS".

Of die varieties, only one is known with the date being large and closely spaced. The first "1" of the date is close to the base of the neck on Liberty though not touching. The "7" and second "1" of the date is also close but again, do not touch Liberty's neck. The mintmark is placed to the left of center with the second "C" about half way over the serif of the "N" of the word "TWENTY" and the first "C" just slightly higher.

Price ranges for the 1871-CC double eagle according to PCGS guide are as follows:
VF30-$11,500 / EF40- $22,500 / AU55- $52,500 / MS60- $100,000

The finest known 1871-CC double eagle is an NGC graded MS-64. None grade higher and of this grade there is only one. It went to auction April 17, 2008 in Heritage's Central States sale held in Chicago. When the auctioneer's gavel came down it sold for $414,000. The finest known example! The buyer was a coin dealer from Reno Nevada who was a specialist on Carson City coins and an author of two books on the subject.
Hmmm...........I wonder who that could be?

Well done once again Mr.Randy! Your knowledge and interest in the Comstock-era is abundantly obvious to anyone reading your coin of the week articles.

As a real estate guy myself, I enjoyed your recounting of their failed cost saving measures and chuckled about the $170,000 total price tag for the CC mint. You could easily add two zeros to that figure today, and you might still be too low.

I have only ever viewed, in person, one example of the 1871-CC Double Eagle. As you describe in your article, it was pretty beat up, though the coin still had that special alure attributable to anything with the double C impressed on the reverse.


I've added a couple images found on the internet of this week's Carson City Coin of the Week, including a close-up the MS-64 specimen you refer to in your article.




Belay Off

Great article, Randy. I am hoping there is some follow-up to your comments about the cornerstone. Has the cornerstone of the Carson City Mint not been accounted for? If so, was it empty? I am not sure if the cornerstone in the San Francisco Mint has been accounted for either.

Randy,

To think of the Carson City Mint in only its second year in business is to conjure up all sorts of historic memories. You selected a few of the important ones and you did a good job summarizing the details about the 1871-CC double eagle.

As for the Capitol cornerstone, you wrote:

I don't know for sure just what ever became of that box and the items it contained.

In 1978 the Nevada government started a reconstruction project on the Capitol grounds. One of the goals was to retrofit the Capitol building to withstand earthquakes. A team of engineers used x-ray equipment and sonic devices in a diligent attempt to find the cornerstone, which had been laid in June 1870. Their efforts paid off, and 108 years after its placement, the cornerstone was unearthed in the northeast section of the Capitol grounds. The contents, many of which you listed in your COTW article, were removed, and some of them were put on display at the Nevada State Museum while the reconstruction project continued. (I included a picture of the 1870-CC quarter and silver dollar from the cornerstone, which were on display at the museum in 1979, in The Mint on Carson Street—page 26.)

One hundred and nine years after its original placement, workers put the original contents back in to the 1870 velvet-lined, brass box, and added some more items relative to 1979, before laying it to rest once again on Nevada Day 1979 (October 31). Masonic ceremonial rules were adhered to as had been back in 1870. They laid the cornerstone in the same northeast corner of the original Capitol from which it was removed.

As for the Carson Mint's cornerstone, which was laid in 1866, its location is still unknown. This seems odd to me, expecially in light of the major reconstuction work done on the mint's grounds over the past six years, and in light of advanced technology available now compared to 1978-1979.

Obviously, since they laid the mint's cornerstone in 1866, there will be no "CC" coins in it if it is ever discovered.

You did another good job Randy and I'm sure your 1871-CC double eagle article will provoke lots of thoughts and questions—just like this one about the Capitol cornerstone.

Rusty

Great article Randy! Cost overuns on government projects? Who would have thought! Great examples of a special coin also. With approximately 260 survivors that MS64 is one heck of a monster for sure!

Loosechange

Hi Randy

Congrats on another great COW post. Forgive my tardiness here, I just returned from a trip to Tucson where I had a virtually unusable computer!
You pointed out correctly that the 1871-CC double eagle was the second rarest of the series...a lot of folks seem to think the 1891-CC $20 holds that spot but it's not so.
I must include a special thanks to belay for providing some great images of the 1871-CC $20. The MS-64 monster as pictured is breathtaking...an unbelievable and amazing coin.
Keep up the good work Randy!

the drummer