1893-CC Morgan Silver Dollar Value

Mintage: 677,000

Finest Known: MS66 (NGC) MS66 (PCGS)

Auction Record: $161,000 (MS66)

Image: USA CoinBook

The 1893-CC Morgan dollar was the last silver dollar produced at the Carson City Mint. As such, it has always been a popular coin to collect. While the mintage of 677,000 dollars may seem small, it was the most Morgans produced that year of any US Mint.

PCGS puts the number of surviving 1893-CC Morgan dollars at 48,000. Of those, some 26,000 are estimated to be in Mint State, and only 30 at MS65 or better. The finest known are a single MS66 at both PCGS and NGC. This may be the same coin.

WHY DID THE CARSON CITY MINT CLOSE?

The Carson City Mint closed for the final time on June 1, 1893. The presses were mothballed, and the employees in the coining department were let go. The facility continued operation as a US Assay Office until 1933, when it was closed completely.

There were three reasons the Carson City Mint was closed for good.

1. The Comstock Lode was mined out. The silver and gold deposits in the region had dried up by the 1880s. The reason that the Mint had been built had disappeared.
2. Local demand vanished. When the mining companies left, the miners and townspeople followed. The crash in population meant that demand for new coins vanished. The Carson City Mint began putting workers on temporary furlough due to lack of coin demand, and lack of raw ore to make them.
3. Reducing expenses. With the exodus of people from the Comstock region, nearly all coins struck in Carson City were shipped to the San Francisco Mint. Since it cost the same to ship coins or bullion bars, the government could lay off the workers in the coining department at Carson City, and have the smelting and refining departments produce bars that were sent to San Francisco.

The Value of an 1893-CC Morgan Dollar

The 1893-CC Morgan dollar is considered a key date of the series. Only the 1889-CC and the 1879-CC have fewer Mint State survivors among Carson City Morgan dollars. The low number of survivors, and nearly non-existent number of coins in high Mint State mean that some collectors will need to make compromises.

NGC and PCGS together have recorded only 24 at MS65, and one each at MS66. The actual number is undoubtedly lower. At this level of rarity, collectors will submit a coin multiple times in an effort to secure the highest grade.

It is likely that several hundred thousand of the total 677,000 1893-CC Morgans were melted under the 1918 Pittman Act.

1893-CC Morgan dollars usually have a weakly struck center on both sides. Mint State grades often feature a pleasing luster. Unfortunately, that is offset by heavy bag marks, which limit their grade. This means that most Mint State 1893-CC Morgans are in the MS60–MS62 range. If you devote the time, nicely struck coins can eventually be found, for a price.

1893-CC Morgan Dollar Price Guide

The information on this page does not constitute an offer to buy or sell the coin(s) referred to. Statistics are for Mint State coins only. Proof and prooflike examples of this issue may have greater or lesser "finest known" and different record auction prices.