Certified US Gold $20 Liberty XF40 1879-CC PCGS

Carson City coinage is very highly collected as the United States Mint was created due to the huge deposits of silver found at the Comstock Lode near Carson City, Nevada, in 1859. The mintages of many coins struck at this mint are considerably less than the mintages of Philadelphia and the other branch mints. With gold having been found in California in 1849, a mint was built in California at San Francisco and opened in 1854. But an additional branch mint was built in 1870 in Carson City due to silver being found in huge quantities at the Comstock Lode in 1859. But as the silver and gold supplies dwindled, this mint ceased coin production in 1893. The coins struck at the Carson City Mint bear a small “CC” on the reverse side of the coin. Since $20 Gold Double Eagles were not created by the Coinage Act of 1792, they were created after the gold strike in California. Thee coins started off with significantly lower mintages that the other mints had. As the gold and silver supplies of the raw metal dwindled, the mintages suffered. In 1879, the Carson City struck Double Eagle saw only 10,708 examples struck. The design was the one modified by James B. Longacre, based on Christian Gobrecht design of the Liberty gold coin series of the 1840s. It featured a dominant portrait of Miss Liberty on the obverse, facing to the left. She wore a crown on her head, emblazoned with the word “LIBERTY.” Thirteen six-pointed stars surround Miss Liberty and the date is on the lower periphery. The reverse depicts a heraldic eagle, with spread wings, and arrows and an olive branch in the eagle’s talons. There is a ribbon bearing the motto, “E PLURIBUS UNUM.” Above the eagle are thirteen six pointed stars in an oval with “IN GOD WE TRUST,” displayed inside and there are rays above the stars. Around the upper periphery is “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” while the denomination appearing on the lower periphery displays “Twenty Dollars.” This magnificently rare coin was graded by the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) as Extremely Fine-40. There are only 50 coins that PCGS has awarded the lofty XF-40 grade. The finest graded specimen is an MS62 grade. It is rare in all grades and seldom available.