Why Collect "CC" Coins?

Carson City Coins Encompass the History and Romance of the Old West

John Iddings “The Great Silver Sale,” Coinage, February 1997

Carson City coins have always held a special mystique for avid coin collectors, who find themselves drawn to the unique two-letter mintmark and the Old West origin of these coins.
For many collectors, the reward goes far beyond owning a big, beautiful silver coin. It encompasses all of the history and romance of an Old West Mint....

Carson City Morgan Silver Dollars Recorded Lowest Output Per Die Pairs

The Morgan and Peace Dollar Textbook
Wayne Miller, Adam Smith Publishing, Metairie, LA 1983, pg. 34

There was considerable variation in the number of coins struck per die pair among Morgan dollars. The Philadelphia Mint struck an average of more than 200,000 coins per die pair, the New Orleans Mint over 150,000, San Francisco 120,000, and the Carson City Mint slightly more than 60,000 coins per die pair. This explains why Carson City dollars are less frequently lacking in high-point definition.

Rare Carson City Coins are the Footprints of History

A Buyer’s Guide to the Rare Coin Market
Q. David Bowers, Bowers and Merena, 1992, pg. 11

Whenever I see a Morgan silver dollar with a ‘CC’ mintmark, minted in the 1880s, I can conjure up in my imagination a vision of Carson City, Nevada in the rough and ready days of the Wild West, of miners working underground to take precious silver ore from the Comstock Lode, and of the main street of nearby Virginia City, with its saloons, gambling parlors, red-light district, and perhaps even a shootout between the sheriff and an outlaw. I almost forgot to mention Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), who early in his career in the 1860s was on the staff of the Territorial Enterprise, the local newspaper.

Rare Carson City Coins Excite Collectors

Coin World “Trends” section, April 25, 1990, pg. 52

Coins struck at the Carson City Mint have always been a popular area for coin collectors. Generally, these coins were struck in limited numbers beginning in 1870 and ending in 1893, while being struck from native silver and gold. Also, these coins remind collectors of the exciting and romantic Wild West.