1883-CC $1 Morgan Silver Dollar PCGS MS67 (CAC)

Carson City: two little words that paint big pictures of the Wild West, the Comstock Lode, and Morgan silver dollars--the most popular collectable in American numismatists. The discovery of the Comstock Lode, the first big deposit of silver ore in the United States, inspired the silver rush of 1859. Prospectors swarmed into Nevada, scrambling to stake their claims. The town of Virginia City--and many others--sprang up as a direct result of the Comstock Lode. Mining camps soon dotted the landscape and became centers of enormous wealth. Much of that silver was used to strike Morgan dollars.

This pristine example is near the top of the graded population at PCGS. An absolutely massive 53,661 examples of the 1883-CC Morgan dollar have been graded by PCGS. However, in the superior grade of MS67, there are 291, with only 40 finer. Collectors Universe gives this issue a price of $5,250.00 in MS67. In CAC, there are 99 in MS67/67+ with 2 finer. CAC give the 1883-CC Morgan dollar a price of $5,000.00 in MS67.

Silver miners at the Comstock Lode, where the silver for this coin was extracted from the earth. Photo: wikipedia.

Writes Ron Guth in PCGS Coinfacts, "The 1883-CC $1 is one of the most common dates issued by the Carson City Mint. Large quantities of full bags of $1,000 face value appeared in the 1960s in U.S. Treasury vaults, accounting for most of the known population. These were distributed in the late 1970s and early 1980s by the General Services Administration, which sold individual coins to dealers and collectors.... In general, coins of this date show strong strikes and deep, frosty luster."