1870-CC $10 MS(PCGS#8658)
1870-CC $10 MS (PCGS#8658)
Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins
- 拍卖行
- Stack's Bowers
- 批号
- 3344
- 等级
- AU55
- 价格
- 2,913,415
- 详细说明
- Here is a highly significant 1870-CC eagle, a well known and eagerly sought rarity in the Carson City Mint ten-dollar gold series. Graded AU-55 by PCGS, this high Condition Census specimen is among the very finest certified for an issue that remains unknown in Mint State. Vivid and attractive orange-honey color blankets both sides, which also reveal hints of powder blue and reddish-rose. Much satin luster remains, with traces of semi-reflectivity close in among many of the design elements. Striking detail is universally sharp and, while wispy handling marks and a few faint hairlines are noted for accuracy, there are no singularly distracting blemishes. Survivors of this issue rarely come this nice, and the most aggressive bidding strategy is recommended.<p>In his outstanding 2020 reference <em>The Confident Carson City Coin Collector</em>, Rusty Goe opens his discussion on the challenges associated with the commencement of ten-dollar gold production at this coinage facility when he writes:<p><em>Government statistics show that miners in Nevada's Comstock region had hauled out $16 million worth of 'raw material,' in the form of precious metals, from the ground in 1864, the year Congress had debated the viability of establishing a mint in Nevada. By 1870, the output of ore in that region had dwindled to $8.3 million, still a sufficient supply to prime the operations of a start-up mint in the area. First, the officers at that facility would need to persuade the miners to deposit their bullion locally rather than ship it to San Francisco, or other destinations thousands of miles away.</em><p><em></em>In this they were successful enough for, while a mintage of 5,908 pieces for the 1870-CC is modest in an absolute sense, it was commensurate with ten-dollar gold eagle production at the other operating mints in recent years, and of sufficient quantity to give hope that coinage operations would continue at Carson City. There is some debate concerning the exact number of coins extant from this mintage, with <em>PCGS CoinFacts</em> estimating that just 45 to 60 pieces have survived. Doug Winter's 2001 estimate of 35 to 45 examples certainly seems low today, and even the <em>PCGS CoinFacts</em> figure might be too conservative (and is likely to be skewed since it is based predominantly on the number of grading events for the issue). With a wider view toward the total number of coins, Rusty Goe provides what we feel is a more accurate estimate of 60 to 75 survivors in his 202 book. In any event, the 1870-CC is generally regarded as one of the two rarest Carson City Mint eagles, an honor it shares with the 1879-CC. (Opinions differ here, as well, with Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth ranking the 1879-CC ahead of the 1870-CC in rarity.) The 1870-CC eagle is also one of the rarest Carson City Mint gold coins of any denomination, ranking near the top of this listing alongside the 1879-CC eagle and also the legendary 1870-CC double eagle.<p>As noted, most survivors grade no finer than VF, and the 1870-CC is unknown in Mint State. As of this writing, PCGS and NGC have bestowed an AU-58 grade on only one example, the Canfield Heirloom specimen in PCGS/CAC AU-58 that realized $1,080,000 in our August 2023 Global Showcase Auction. As the first issue in this perennially popular mintmarked gold series and a well established rarity, the offering of any 1870-CC eagle is an important occasion. Indeed, we anticipate excitement, keen interest and strong competition when bidding opens for this superior Choice AU.