Morgan and VAM experts - a little help on an 1880 CC dollar

FC57Coins

I just went home at lunch to find that the 1880CC dollar that I had ordered from GSA guy had arrived. Over a ham and cheese sandwich and a diet coke I was looking over the piece when I noticed that the mint mark looked odd. At first glance, instead of a "cc", it looked like an "oo" in other words the c's looked completely closed. I took out the loupe, and sure enough, the "cc"'s are just about completely closed off. A quick look at the date also revealed that this was either an 8/high/low 7 with a rounded breast eagle. If anyone wants to take a stab at guessing what I'm looking at I'd appreciate it. I'll post some pics tonite after work.

Thanks!

Frank

FC57Coins

ttt

TONEDDOLLARS

Frank,
The vam 6 which is 8/7 low has the small cc. each c has a dot of metal in the center. there should be a die scratch through the m of America also at the bottom of the eagles right wing and inside of of eagles left wing.

These are some things that you should look for. let us know how you make out. the picture in the vam book appears to verify the fact that the cc's look closed. jack

FC57Coins

Thanks Jack - I'll look for those details this evening and get back to you guys with some pics.

Frank

Gilbert

Frank

The minting of the 1880CC was beset with problems. "Normal dies without varieties DO NOT exist. Planchet striations, improper fineness and cloudy surfaces resulted in several hundred thousand being melted in 1881, so you will find most are overdates and some struck with the reverse of '78.

I - small CC very closely spaced (also used in '78)
II - small CC medium spaced (used in '78 and '80)

both I and II may contain die chips and are almost closed Cs

V - large CC medium spaced

Vams 4, 5 and 6 are the most prominent overdates
vam4 being 80/79, vam 8/7 highe, vam6 8/7 low

FC57Coins

Thanks Gilbert - sounds like this coin meets all the requirements of VAM 6. I'll have to take a closer look at it tonight. One thing about this piece is that it does have some cloudyness, and I don't know what it's due to. It looks as though the piece has a fine layer of "metal dust" over it - but I don't know if this is the case - there is a milky haze over it. If I keep it, I'm wondering if NCS would be able to remedy the situation. I'll have to look at the strike of the piece closely as well - what makes this piece a difficult one to ascertain is that it's a DMPL as far as I can tell and therefore I'm much more inclined to see about having NCS look at it and then have NGC put it in a properly classified slab.

Thanks for the info!

Frank

Morganluver

TONEDDOLLARS

That's exactly the correct identification for the Low 8/7(the rarer one) 80-CC. Leroy and George would be proud. I have the same coin(PCGS MS65) up on auction right now in an older green holder before they started designating them as such. The over date in the Low 8/7 is much more pronounced than the High 8/7 and are really quite rare relative to all other 80-CCs. They are tough to find nice. Great explanation, thanks.

TONEDDOLLARS

Morganlover

Even a blind squirrel will find a nut sometimes.

Morganluver

Just make sure you remember where you burried them. LOL