1876 CC Twenty Cents - You Vs PCGS

AU-55

Wow!

I will go high with AU58

I'm on board at AU58 even though I don't see much luster. It is very well stuck with very little wear.

this is a very nice lightly circulated CC. I would say at least AU55 maybe 58. I like it

I wanted to let everybody know why AU is wrong for this coin. This coin is a MAJOR rarity. The population is only 15! This one runs at $550,000 retail if it ever came up. The mintage for the 1876 CC is about 10,000 pieces. Allegedly, the Director of the Mint ordered the Superintendent of the Carson City mint to melt down all Twenty Cent Pieces on hand. This was before the 1876 CC could get out into circulation. Apparently a few made it out probably transported by mint employees as souvenirs. Apparently none made it into circulation so consequently they are all mint state. I would just say the wear is not circulation but the known weak strike for these coins out of Carson City.

The strike weakness had me (should know better since I favor 3CN). Excellent exercise and information - thanks BarberMan!

BH1964: Thank you for posting the Heritage link concerning this coin. Nice provenance. What I found interesting was that there are a handful of worn and impaired pieces known. Also that a hoard of 8-10 mint state examples were discovered in Baltimore in 1957. When coins such as these sell you can throw out the price guides.

To me it's AU58 and maybe an AU55. Very nice and original tone with a touch of wear.