Q. David Bowers
Business Strikes:
Enabling legislation: As earlier, plus Act of February 28, 1878
Designer: George T. Morgan
Weight and composition: 412.5 grains; .900 silver, .100 copper
Melt-down (silver value) in year minted: $0.88564
Dies prepared: Obverse: Unknown; Reverse: Unknown.
Business strike mintage: 591,000 less 96,000 melted; net: 495,000.
Estimated quantity melted: Possibly 300,000 or more, probably mostly in the form of mint-sealed melted under terms of the 1918 Pittman Act; plus 96,000 melted at the mint in 1881.
Approximate population MS-65 or better: 15,000 to 25,000 (URS-15)
Approximate population MS-64: 30,000 to 50,000 (URS-16)
Approximate population MS-63: 70,000 to 100,000 (URS-18)
Approximate population MS-60 to 62: 100,000 to 150,000 (URS-18)
Approximate population G-4 to AU-58: 10,000 to 20,000 (URS-15)
Availability of prooflike coins: Third Reverse coins are available but somewhat scarce. Second Reverse coins are very rare.
Characteristics of striking: Striking quality varies widely. Many average and lightly struck pieces exist, as do sharply struck coins. Some have distracting planchet striations.
Known hoards of Mint State coins: 131,529 were held back from 1962-1964 Treasury release and subsequently sold by the General Services Administration.
Proofs:
None
Commentary
Apparently, all 1880-CC obverse dies started life as 1879 or 187-dies; traces of the under date can be seen on many extant coins today. Van Allen and Mallis stated this: "Normal dies without overdates do not exist." The Second and Third(PAF) and SAF) were virtually unknown to collectors before the Will W. Neil Sale (1947).
Activities at the Carson City Mint
The Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, 1880, covering the fiscal year ended on June 30th, commented as follows:
"During the year the [Treasury Department] was able to obtain for the West Coast mints bullion sufficient only to coin 8,318,000 standard silver dollars. This inability compelled the suspension of coinage at the Carson City Mint from November 1, 1879 to May 1, 1880, the stock of silver bullion at the former date having become reduced to 12,342.41 standard ounces [at one point within that period].
"[By April 16, 1880, the stock had accumulated back up to the point of 227,087.54 standard ounces.] This amount, with the prospect of additional supplies, justified the resumption of coinage, but the whole amount of silver bullion obtained for the Carson City Mint during the [fiscal] year amounted at its coining value to $597,624.28 only."
CC and S Coins Wanted
In the December 1912 issue of The Numismatist, Howard R.Newcomb, 59 Burlingame Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, advertised to buy Uncirculated silver dollars of the branch mints, "perfection copies desired," of these issues: 1880-CC, 1884-CC, 1889-CC, 1886-S, 1887-S, 1888-S, and 1889-S.
This indicates that these varieties were not readily available in Mint State at the time, as Newcomb (who later became known as a specialist in large cents, whose book on 1816-1857 cents was published in 1944) was an aggressive buyer.
In The Numismatist, February 1913, Newcomb described the different varieties of 1878-1880 dollars known to him. Several were illustrated.