1874-CC $5 Gold CC Coin of the Week – 12-14-2009

Michael,

What a handsome coin your '74 is! Yeah, we all may strive for the highest grade possible...and who doesn't love a shiney new mint state coin. But, at the end of the day, every time I see a good looking and naturally worn coin such as this, I'm reminded that this is the real thing! As you point out in your article, this coin was heavily used for commerce and probably traveled all over the western United States in the pockets of some rather interesting people.

I wonder if a coin such as yours actually spent less actual time in active, daily circulation than would have a gold Carson City $10 or $20 of the exact same VF 30 grade? Doesn't it seem more likley that the average guy in the street might handle a five dollar gold piece more often than that perosn might handle a ten or twenty dollar gold coin? I would speculate that the larger denominations may have been regularly put aside for a rainy day, thus taking more calendar years to accrue the same degree of wear that a smaller denomination like your VF 30 $5 CC gold piece, which may have seen many more hand touching, commercial transactions, droppings and scrapes per month than its larger cousins.

Well written and informative posting Drum man!

Belay Off

Hi Belay Off

Thank you for all your nice comments about my 1874-CC $5 Gold Coin of the Week - 12-14-2009. It means a lot coming from a fine writer like yourself. I'm honored to be a part of this great COW project!

I do agree that the smaller denominational gold pieces from the CC mint more than likely did in fact see more use than their larger denominational counterparts. Your theory makes quite a bit of sense.
If it were only possible to recount all the folks who ever owned, spent or in any way used my coin, what a movie that would make!

I now look forward to each and new COW posting.

the drummer