The Coin Resource Center has entries on all Type II Seated Liberty dollars struck at the Carson City Mint, which only produced Seated Liberty dollars from 1870 through 1873. Condemned by political forces arrayed against bimetallism, the denomination was abolished by the Coinage Act of 1873, which went into effect on April 1 of that year. Trade dollars were produced during the domestic silver dollar’s hiatus, including at the Carson City Mint. Though the silver dollar denomination was reintroduced five years later (and examples were struck in Carson City), these coins featured the Morgan design.
The Carson City Mint only produced a handful of Seated Liberty dollars in 1873, In the first two months of the year, 2,300 were struck. While not the rarest date in the series, this small mintage, coupled with melting and general circulation attrition mean that only 85 to 105 examples are thought to exist, per our CRC listing on the date.
The entry includes commentary from Rusty Goe, author of the award-winning multi-volume The Confident Carson City Coin Collector, published in 2020, and Q. David Bowers, who has also written extensively on Carson City coinage. Like other CRC listings, the entry on the 1873-CC Seated Liberty dollar includes a link to recent auction results and high-quality photos of the coin.
