1872-CC

Carson City's third double eagle followed the famously elusive 1870-CC (3,789 struck) and the still-formidable 1871-CC (14,687), and the 1872 delivery of 29,650 coins represented another modest expansion for a frontier mint that was still finding its footing. Most of those pieces went straight into commercial circulation in the silver-and-gold economy of the Comstock, where Federal paper was distrusted and heavy gold passed at face. Doug Winter's working survival estimate of roughly 350 to 400 examples accounts for only about 1.5 percent of the original mintage, with the great majority of survivors landing in the VF35 to EF45 band rather than at higher levels.

Population data confirm how thin the upper end is. PCGS and NGC together certify the issue almost entirely in circulated grades, with PCGS recording its finest as a single MS61 and NGC topping out one grade higher at MS62. Properly graded AU58 coins are genuinely scarce, with only a handful carrying CAC stickers, and Mint State pieces remain a true condition rarity for the entire Carson City double eagle run. Specialists collecting Winter's reference dies will encounter Variety 1-A and 1-B working pairs; both are catalogued by Heritage and PCGS rather than treated as ordinary die marriages.

Auction results have tracked that scarcity firmly upward. The Bender Collection AU58 PCGS CAC, Variety 1-B, realized $168,000 at Heritage in August 2022, and a PCGS MS61 from the Mississippi Collection brought $102,000 at Heritage's Long Beach sale in March 2025. Strikes on early Carson City gold are typically soft at the central stars and on the eagle's neck feathers, and collectors should be cautious of Philadelphia 1872 double eagles with added CC mintmarks, a documented alteration aimed at the price gap between the two issues. Within the CC key hierarchy of 1870-CC, 1871-CC, 1872-CC, 1878-CC, 1879-CC, 1885-CC, and 1891-CC, this date sits in the third position and anchors the early-mint trio. For broader context, see the Liberty Head Double Eagle series history.