A rare find - 1889 Carson City Silver Dollar

opti

opti

Member
Hi Guys, just wanted to share a rare and lucky find I stumbled upon. Unfortunately a family member pass away recently, and they had a jar of coins, which was handed to me, with the usual pennies and what not. But among them, this rare gem popped up. Didn't know much about it till I did a bit of research, now the Silver dollars from back then are plenty apparently, what makes this one rare is the year, and the Mint it was produced from, if you look below the eagle (and just above ONE DOLLAR), you can see the small letter CC. This means it was pressed a the Carson City Mint.

How on earth this coin made its way to Australia, and what stories it has to tell, who knows. It was in the family for generations.

Here is some info I digged up:

Before the end of the year, a total of 350,000 of the 1889-CC Morgan Silver Dollar were produced. Numismatic scholars have concluded that perhaps 250,000 to 325,000 of the 1889-CC dollars were melted, making this date one of the scarcest in the entire Morgan Silver Dollar series.

The 1889-CC Morgan Silver Dollar has a couple of angles that make it a collector’s favorite. First, it is a rare key date in what is absolutely one of the most popular type coins in American numismatics, the Morgan Dollar. Second, all coins of the Carson City Mint are associated with the “Wild West” aura, and carry added weight with collectors. A quick check of long term upwardly price trends for the 1889-CC attests to its stellar reputation.
 

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a lot of things I dont like about that coin, can you put it on a scale?
 
what I am saying is that it is either harshly cleaned or not real, even if it is cleaned it is worth getting graded as proof or authenticity as it is a really sought after coin which is one of the reasons I suggest you get it slabbed. its has been desirable for a long time now and that has led to fakes being made. those surfaces don't look right but can be the result of poor cleaning, had to tell from photos
 
As Serial said, weigh it, magnet test it, XRF it at you local bullion dealer, etc. Also, check out youtube and associated websites that show you what to look for in a genuine/fake CC Morgan.

Genuine for a quick and dirty comparison for you

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Big picture (click on it) for close up detail of a genuine as the CC on yours looks a bit strange
 
May just be my eyes, but it looks like opti's coin has the same die crack running through the legend at the top of the reverse to the eagles left wing as Steelhands big picture. Not as pronounced, but runs halfway up between the S and T, then drops down to the bottom of the ATES. A close up picture would help. The coin does look like it was badly cleaned.
 
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arch is right, it seems to have matching die markers, with that in mind I would consider it a harshly cleaned coin, but still worth circa $400 as is
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys, very appreciated. The coin was in a jar with other coins shaking around, so yeah wasn't exactly looked after. I can post a higher resolution image for you guys. I had a little look at grading, and from what I read, it seems a bit difficult to get done in Australia, it would involve sending the coin to overseas. Please correct me if I'm wrong, I am an amateur at these things.
 
I have tried to sharpen it up a bit, I really need to take a better photo under better lighting
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thanks for your input..
if its fake its fake, I was asked for more pictures, which I posted, and there was mention of matching die crack.
 
The die crack looks legit to me, there are a couple of agents for PCGS here in Oz so concidering the year and mint of your coin I think your best bet would be to get it graded and authenticated so you get the most out of when it comes time to sell. I know there is a PCGS agent in Brisbane, where are you from?
 
The die crack is much clearer in that picture. It looks to match the BU reverse in Steelhand's picture exactly. The only place it disappears is over the wing, where ware has obliterated the crack. Think you got a genuine one there.
 
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