1889-CC

The 1889-CC, at 350,000 pieces, is the Key Date of the Carson City Morgan Dollar run and one of the legendary Key Dates of the entire series. Carson City had effectively shut down Morgan Dollar production after the 1885 issue, and the 1889 output is a brief restart for a single year under specific Treasury directives that did not extend through 1890 (which carried a much larger CC mintage). The 1889-CC carries the standard Reverse of 1879 hub configuration with no documented sub-varieties anchoring the year's specialist collecting.

Strike quality on the 1889-CC is consistently sharp, with Liberty's hair detail and the eagle's central feathers coming up cleanly on most coins from early die states. The issue's collecting profile centers on circulation losses and the absence of significant Treasury vault hoards, with most surviving examples grading VG to AU from heavy western commerce. PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC populations cluster at VF, EF, and AU; MS60 examples are condition-scarce, MS63 is genuinely rare, and MS65 and above is among the trophy pickups of the entire Morgan series. The 1889-CC saw very limited General Services Administration distribution because Treasury did not hold large vault quantities of this date by the time of the 1972-1980 sales.

The 1889-CC is a recognized Key Date and the anchor pickup for any complete Carson City Morgan Dollar set. Pricing trades at premium levels at every grade, with the gap to MS63 substantial and the climb from MS63 to MS65 dramatic. Counterfeit 1889-CC coins exist; verify weight at 26.73 grams, diameter at 38.1 millimeters, and a clean reeded edge before paying any meaningful premium. Certified slabs are the standard purchase route at the price levels this issue commands. For the Carson City production context and the broader Morgan series Key Date framework, see the Morgan Dollar series history.