Auction #Rich3 > Lot #1392 > U.S. Coins > 20-Cent Pieces 1876-CC 20c NGC MS64 DLRC #: 95068

A simply gorgeous specimen of this extremely rare Twenty Cent piece. Both sides are a lovely medium violet color with areas of dramatic, iridescent blue toning mixed in near the devices. Luster and strike are both commensurate with the MS64 designation which, if anything, is conservative. As with all known genuine examples, the word LIBERTY is boldly doubled.

The Legend of the 1876-CC 20-cent Piece
The 1876-CC might well be one of the most overlooked of all the great numismatic rarities. Hailing from an original mintage of approximately 100,000 coins, only a handful remain today thanks to a number of unusual circumstances of the day.

Early in 1877 the U.S. Treasury concluded that the 20-cent program was indeed a failure. The coinage had never gained acceptance, and demand for the coins was at an all-time low. This was especially true at the Carson City mint, where the production of 1875-CC coins had yet to be exhausted. In fact, the CC Mint facility was still doling out 1875-dated coins when orders came in to melt the ENTIRE remaining inventory of 20-cent pieces. The only exception to this was an unreported (small) number of 1876-dated coins which were required to be shipped back to Washington to the Assay office for record keeping.

The Collecting of Mintmarks
It is well known that collectors of the late 19th Century generally pursued year-only sets. It wasn't until around 1893 that the pursuit of dates AND mintmarks became a popular methodology. And it was then, nearly 20 years after their mintage, that the 1876-CC 20-cent piece was determined to be an absolute rarity. At this time, the 1876-CC became highly prized by the famous collectors of the day, including John Clapp (who eventually sold his to Louis Eliasberg).

The number of known coins would surely number less than 10 today if not for the existance of one small group which appeared on the market in the late 1950's. According to Q. David Bowers, this "Maryland Estate hoard" is most likely the coins which emerged from the Assay Commission request in 1876. Since this discovery almost no new examples have surfaced.

16 to 20 known Coins
While the exact number of known coins isn't known, numismatists generally accept that there are "fewer than 21" (Bowers)and likely only 16 (Stacks). Of these at least 4 are circulated or otherwise lower than MS60 in grade. The Registry of all known specimens can be found in Walter Breen's Encyclopedia (this specimen is the plate coin in that book!), the Eliasberg Collection Sale of 1997 (Bowers and Merena) and other catalogs.

The Boyd-Kern-Hydeman-Champa-Hawn Specimen (NGC MS65) was sold by David Lawrence Rare Coins in February 2003 in a private transaction.

NGC Census: 2, 3 higher (finest MS65)

Ex: Bowers & Merena's Salisbury Collection, 9/1994:1181; Prior to that: Stack's portion of the Auction '83 sale:625; Stack's Pelletreau Sale, 3/1959:661; B. Max Mehl's Neil Collection Sale, 1947:1194.

DLRC Star/Eye Appeal Rating: [4]

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