Coin Gallery Online - 1876-CC Twenty Cent Piece

Photos courtesy of Jay Parrino

Composition: .900 Silver, .100 Copper Diameter: 22mm

Edge: Plain Weight: 5 grams

The Liberty Seated design attributed to Christian Gobrecht's engraving abilities was one of the longest running coin designs in American history. This same basic design was employed on denominations from the half-dime thru the dollar from its introduction in 1837 until its final appearance in 1891 (approximately 1,000 Gobrecht dollars were struck in 1836).

The 20-Cent piece, on the other hand, was one of the shortest lived denominations in the history of the country. One might argue that the $4.00 gold "stellas" were the shortest-lived, but they were never introduced into circulation. Circulation issues of the 20-cent piece were released for only two years (1875 and 1876) with proof issues continuing for another two until the final issue in 1878.

Only three mints produced the 20-cent piece as follows:

Philadelphia Mint from 1875 thru 1878

San Francisco Mint in 1875 only

Carson City Mint in 1875 and 1876

Most of the original 1876 Carson City mintage of 10,000 pieces were melted at the mint without ever being released. It's intriguing to note that a total of 1,358,890 United States 20-cent pieces have ever been minted! Today the U.S. Mint might produce that number of coins in a matter of hours.

This author finds it to be in the top echelon of desirable collectibles, especially considering the relative cost and availability. Of that mintage, thousands were never to make it out of the mint. The total combined mintage of 1877 and 1878 proofs is 950 while the 1875 and 1876 proof mintages are recorded as 2,790 and 1,260 respectively.

A complete set of U.S. 20-cent pieces consists of only 9 coins. All can be obtained, with the sole exception of the 1876-CC, for under $3,000. Uncirculated examples of the San Francisco coin are available for under $500.

The public wasn't exactly ecstatic about the 20-cent piece because of the confusion with the then Liberty Seated Quarter Dollar. The difference in the two being much less than the difference in say, the SBA Dollar and the Washington Quarter.

Walter Breen, the renowned numismatic researcher and scholar, estimated that 16-18 examples of the 1876-CC 20-cent piece are known in all grades. All were coined from the same obverse die which exhibits doubling, a feature most prominent in the word LIBERTY.

This particular piece, the finest known, is described by its current owner as "a frosty white jewel, its reverse displaying a delightful prooflike quality."