1872-CC is a desirable date in the Liberty Seated dollar series because of both its low mintage and its Carson City mintmark. Its mintage is considerably higher than its cousins, the 1871-CC and 1873-CC, and it seems to be much more readily available.

As the first edition of our book was being written it appeared that a small hoard of this date was being disbursed. We have no knowledge of the source, but auctions in the 2015-2016 timeframe included multiple examples of the date. Heritage auctioned more than 40 examples in 2015, and a similar number in 2016, with frequent appearances continuing into early 2017. The supply seemed to dry up in early 2017. Most of the coins had at least minor problems. The frequency of appearance during 2015-2016 is much higher than any other time during the past 10 years. Prices softened during this period, but now appear to have stabilized. Those wishing to acquire the date would be wise to act soon. Previous appearances of CC hoards have depressed prices briefly, but they always rebound quickly. The CC mintmark seems to have a magical effect on collectors.

Finding problem-free 1872-CC examples requires patient searching. High-grade examples are rare but available. Less than 30 are known in all grades of mint state. The finest known examples are MS65. Both PCGS and NGC have graded one example at this level. NGC shows three additional examples in MS64, one with a plus designation. It’s likely that these five very choice to gem records represent at most 4 coins. Four more coins have received a MS63 grade, and 6 have graded MS62.