1870-CC $20 XF40 Certification #-17339, PCGS #8958

Charles Morgan

The 1870-CC Liberty Head Double Eagle (#8958) is one of the most famous of all Double Eagles, and is certainly the rarest CC-Mint twenty. Extant are likely no more than 50 examples from a paltry mintage of just 3,789 pieces. The entire issue was delivered over a span of four months, beginning in March and concluding in July. Only March and May saw production surpass 1,000 pieces. None survive in Mint State and the issue is one of the stoppers for those attempting to complete this challenging series.

CoinFacts or CoinFiction?

In 2000, Michele Elizabeth Frazer published an article claiming that more coins were produced than the official records suggest. Frazer claims to be a distant descendant of Henry F. Rice, the former Wells Fargo Express agent who served as the Superintendent of the Carson City Mint from September 1870 to May 1873. Rice was a polarizing figure; his tenure was marked by firm opposition to the Mint’s continued operations.

According to Frazer’s account, Rice discovered roughly 3,600 "deficient" double eagles put into storage by the first superintendent, Abraham “Abe” Curry, and concocted a plan to steal them with the help of two unreliable delivery men.

However tantalizing Frazer’s account may be—and who doesn’t love a buried treasure story?—there is no evidence to support it. Numismatic researcher Roger Burdette dismisses the piece as “a pleasant bit of 23-year-old fiction.”

While it would be a remarkable (and legally complicated) story if a chest of stolen CC-Mint gold coins was stumbled upon  by someone as happened a decade ago when the Saddle Ridge Hoard was discovered, collectors have to accept the current reality. The 1870-CC Liberty Head Double Eagle is elusive, expensive, and inshrined in the pantheon of great United States coin rarities. The issue is ranked #75 in the fifth edition of Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth’s 100 Greatest U.S. Coins (2019).

Varieties

There are two known die marriages for the issue, differentiated by mintmark placement:

• Winter 1-A: The "CC" is small and closely spaced, positioned over the top serif of the "N" and the left arm of the "T" in TWENTY.
• Winter 1-B: The "CC" is positioned predominantly over the "N" and the gap between the "N" and "T."

The majority of surviving examples exhibit the Winter 1-A die pairing.

Collecting the 1870-CC Liberty Head Double Eagle

Every known 1870-CC Liberty Head Double Eagle is circulated. Even the finest known examples (graded XF45 or better) exhibit significant surface impairments, typically in the form of numerous deep scratches.

Unfortunately, the finest-known example has been missing for over a decade and is feared destroyed.

On October 17, 2011, a Brink’s shipment containing an 1870-CC Double Eagle (NGC AU58, #3414402-001) was stolen while en route from PCGS to Heritage Auctions. Because the coin remained in an NGC holder after being sent to PCGS, one can infer that the coin did not "cross" to a PCGS holder at that time. Heritage continues to offer a $100,000 reward for the coin’s safe return.

Vintage Market Snippet

While most collectors will never own a single 1870-CC, collector Donald E. Bently owned two; both were sold by Heritage in 2014.

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David Hall