1878-CC Morgan Dollar

The 1878-CC Morgan Dollar was struck at the Carson City Mint in 1878 and is part of the Morgan Dollar series.

Specifications

 * Designer: George T. Morgan
 * Obverse Design: Lady Liberty
 * Reverse Design: Eagle holding arrows and olive branch
 * Edge: Reeded
 * Weight: 26.73 grams
 * Diameter: 38.1 millimeters
 * Composition: Silver (90%), Copper (10%)
 * Mintage: Circulation Strikes: est. 2,212,000

Background
The earlier 1878 varieties created at the Philadelphia Mint, the 8TF, 7/8TF, and 7TF - PAF don't exist from the Carson City Mint. All the reverses of the Carson City Morgan Dollar have seven tail feathers.

Numbers of Morgan dollars were released into circulation early in 1878 and were, in general, badly received. Two areas of the United States accepted the coin in decent numbers, the South and West. The new Carson City Mint would help satisfy demand of the region.

Collecting
The 1878-CC Morgan Dollar is the first Carson City Morgan dollar struck. For this simple reason, this coin is very popular with collectors ---especially Carson City Mint collectors.

At over 2 million mintage, this coin can be difficult to locate in high quality with sharply-defined examples key to the year. Some show parallel lines, caused by the planchet, on the cheek and jaw of Miss Liberty. This was not so visible on early strikes or from the original planchet. Differences in detail can be noted across examples especially on the lower part of the eagle and below. These minor inconsistencies aside, the 1878-CC was well-struck in large numbers. The luster is very pleasing on the 1878-CC Morgan Dollar.

Historical Background in 1878
In January of 1878, Humbert I becomes King of Italy. Umberto I or Humbert I, nicknamed the Good (in Italian il Buono), was the King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his death. He was deeply loathed in far-left circles, especially among anarchists, because of his conservatism and support of the Bava-Beccaris massacre in Milan. He was killed by anarchist Gaetano Bresci two years after the incident.

On February 18, the Lincoln County War begins in Lincoln County, New Mexico. The Lincoln County War was a Old West range war between rival factions in 1878 in New Mexico Territory. The feud became famous because of the participation of a number of notable figures of the Old West, including Billy the Kid, sheriffs William Brady and Pat Garrett, cattle rancher John Chisum, lawyer and businessman Alexander McSween, and the general store monopolist Lawrence Murphy.

In the Summer of 1878, a match race between champion thoroughbred racehorses Ten Broeck and Mollie McCarty draws more than 30,000 fans to Louisville and insprires the folk song, Molly and Tenbrooks. "Molly and Tenbrooks," also known as "The Racehorse Song," is a traditional song of the late 19th century.

Die Varieties
30 die pairs exist for the 1878-CC Morgan Dollar with many combinations. The following Van Allen and Mallis (VAM) varieties exist and VAM-6, 11, 18, and 24 are considered to be in the Top 100 collectible VAMs:

Mint

 * Carson City Mint (CC mintmark)

Reference

 * Vamworld