1875-CC Mintmark Below Bow

The 1875-CC Mintmark Below Bow is one of two recognized reverse die placements Carson City used during the first post-Arrows year of the resumed Legend, No Arrows configuration. Combined Carson City output for 1875 ran to 4,645,000 dimes split across the Below Bow and Above Bow varieties, and surviving die studies treat Below Bow as the more frequently encountered of the two placements on the year. This coin was struck under the 2.50-gram weight standard set by the Coinage Act of February 12, 1873, with the small CC mintmark seated inside the wreath and resting below the ribbon bow on the reverse, distinguishing it from the companion die placement where the mintmark rides above the bow. Production at Carson City climbed sharply in 1875 as the silver-coin shortage that had pinched commerce since the Civil War finally eased and the western branch ramped up to meet pent-up demand.

Strike quality on the issue is generally respectable but uneven, with the typical Carson City softness landing on the wreath leaves, the lower-obverse Liberty drapery, and occasionally on the central head detail when working dies passed their prime. Most survivors fall in Very Good through Extremely Fine, the band where the coin did its working life across the late 1870s and into the early Barber years. About Uncirculated examples turn up at major sales without fanfare, and Mint State pieces are present in usable numbers but turn condition-rare above MS-63 with original luster and clean fields. Authentication for any CC dime of this period begins at the 2.50-gram weight on a 90-percent-silver planchet, the 17.9-millimeter reeded edge, and verification that the mintmark sits genuinely below the bow rather than being a doctored Above Bow die. PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC, the Numismatic Guaranty Company, both attribute the Below Bow placement as a distinct die variety, and side-by-side comparison against documented mintmark photographs remains the standard check on borderline pieces.

For a date-and-mint Seated dime collector or a CC-mint specialist, the 1875-CC Below Bow is the more accessible of the two 1875-CC die placements and the practical entry into the year for both type-set and variety-set work. Circulated examples through Extremely Fine clear specialist inventories at moderate premiums over generic Carson City dime pricing, and About Uncirculated pieces deserve a closer look on eye appeal rather than a quick add. For the broader story of Gobrecht's design and the series' late production, see the Seated Liberty Dime series history.