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The Wild West proved to be such an exciting place and time. Immediately following the Civil War, for the next twenty years or so until the late 1880′s, the lands west of the Louisiana Territory were a strange combination of towns and forts, Indian territory, cowboys and trails, outlaws, gold mines, and government mints. Collecting coins from the days of the wild west is a hobby that has many passionate followers.
Mints of the Wild West
Although there were three mints in territories covered by the wild west, including the famed Carson City, San Fransisco, and Denver mints, the Denver mint never struck a first coin until 1895, about ten years after the cowboys and Indians era was ended. Coins from the Wild West are best considered to be those struck at either the Carson City or San Fransisco mints.
The Carson City Mint and Coins
The Carson City mint is the quintessential home of Wild West coins. Built directly in response to the enormous discovery of the Comstock Lode of Nevada, this mint with the coin initials of “CC” was only established in 1863 and ceased minting coins in 1896. In its brief thirty year history, it produced a massive number of the legendary Morgan Silver Dollars. So many of these were struck here that after the mint was closed and the remainder of the unused ones were shipped back East, fully 750,000 of these uncirculated Carson City silver dollars were uncovered. These have since been made available for purchase to the public by the U.S. mint since the 1970′s. They carry a small premium over other uncircultated silver dollars when they come in their original GSA enclosures. Carson City Morgan Silver Dollars of all varieties and grades remain popular and heavily sought out by Wild West coin collectors to this day. They can be purchased at coin auctions and shows, from a local coin dealer, or alternatively as released from the storage vaults of the U.S. mint.
The San Fransisco Mint and Coins
The other true Wild West era government mint was the original Western mint of San Fransisco. This California mint proved to be a key coining facility following the California Gold Rush. It was only several years after the major gold discovery at Sutter’s Mill that the San Fransisco mint started cranking out both gold and silver coins in 1854. That first year, only four million dollars of face valued coins were produced there, making those 1854 S coins extremely rare. As a result of this slow operating start, coin collectors today find that the 1854 S Half Eagles with $5 face values and the Quarter Eagles with $2.50 face values prove to be among the most prized and obscure coins in coin collecting. Their values commonly come in at over $100,000 for better graded coins.
1874 saw the opening of a new and larger mint in San Fransisco. From this year on, the gold “S” coins became more and more common. San Fransisco struck greater quantities of gold coins than any of the other U.S. mints in operation. These gold coins in Liberty Eagles, Liberty Half Eagles, and Liberty Quarter Eagles continue to be prized by coin collectors around the country to this day. These coins are similarly available at coin auctions and shows, or from an area coin dealer. Being mostly minted of gold, their prices tend to be significantly higher than the Silver Carson City coins from Nevada.
Photo Credits: Larry Rosenstein
Originally posted 2010-08-09 03:40:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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