1871-CC is a key date in the Liberty Seated dollar series both because of its extremely low mintage and its status as one of the two rarest products of the Carson City mint within the Liberty Seated dollar series. Its mintage is the lowest of the 4 Carson City issues, although in overall rarity it seems equivalent to the 1873-CC. 1871-CC is one of the most challenging dates in the series, rare in all grades. Finding nice examples can be difficult at best. Many survivors are impaired in one way or another. Finding problem-free coins requires patient searching.

High-grades are extremely rare. Only 7 mint state examples are listed in the current grading service population reports. Another 41 have received various AU grades. A significant number of these AU coins, and at least 1 or 2 of the mint state examples, almost certainly represent re-submissions. The highest graded are MS64. Two coins have achieved that grade, one at each major grading service. One additional example in MS63 is shown on the current NGC population report, but this is probably one of the coins currently graded MS64. Lower grades may also be difficult to locate, although they seem to be more available than 1873-CC. Problem-free low-grade examples, lower than VF20, are rare. The number of problem-free coins graded below VF20 by the major services is currently 34. Population statistics are as of February, 2019.