1874-CC Half Eagle - 1874-CC Half Eagle NGC AU55 CAC - 1874-CC $5 NGC AU55 CAC. Here is a Choice AU 1874-CC Half Eagle from the Carson City Mint. The coin, which is scarce in AU and above condition, shows original mint luster in protected areas. Light, even wear is present on the high points, in keeping with the grade. The surfaces are original and clean for the grade with no abrasion marks that require individual description. The coin has an above average strike with full details on the centers of the stars and the area to the lower left of the shield. The CAC sticker indicates that the coin is a premium quality piece that fully merits the assigned grade.

Christian Gobrecht designed the Liberty Head or Coronet half eagle. The coin shows Liberty facing left in profile wearing a LIBERTY inscribed coronet with her hair tied in the back with beads. Two long curls hang down her neck, one in the back and the other on the side. She is surrounded with thirteen six-pointed stars. The date is below the truncation, which shows no drapery. The motif is taken from a Benjamin West painting of Venus. It was also used with modifications for the Large Cents of 1839. The reverse shows a heraldic eagle with outstretched wing looking to the left. On its chest is the Union shield. In its talons it holds the olive branch and arrows. Except for the tips of the eagles wings UNITED STATES OF AMERICA surrounds the reverse, separated from the denomination FIVE D. by dots. Dentils are near the edge on both sides of the coin, and the edge is reeded. Type 2 was created when the motto IN GOD WE TRUST was added to a banner designed by James B. Longacre above the eagle in 1866. The change was made in response to pressure organized by the Reverend M.R. Watkinson.

Authorized in 1863, the Carson City Mint began coinage in 1870 and continued until 1893. It was then operated as a government assay office until 1933 when it was closed as a cost cutting measure. During its operation it made fifty-seven different types of gold coins. It also converted gold bullion and oar into gold bars, which were shipped to San Francisco for coinage there. Coins issued from the Carson City used the CC mint mark. Originally established to convert silver from the Comstock Lode to coinage, the Carson City Mint also processed gold in to gold coins.
When first discovered, gold and silver found in Nevada had to be shipped over the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the branch mint in San Francisco. This trip was dangerous and expensive. The Nevada mine owners asked Congress to establish a branch of the mint in their state, and legislation was enacted in 1863. Carson City was chosen as the location for the mint facility because it was near some of the major mining sites.

Between 1870 and 1873, mintage at Carson City was limited because of political reasons. The Mint Superintendent, H.F. Rice was dismissed because of claims that the mint issued some light weight and debased coins. Rice could have been executed. This partly verified information led to frequently seen edge test marks on the gold pieces of this period. Those who wanted the Carson City Mint closed use this discovery to urge the closing. Their real motive was that they wanted the lucrative shipping contracts to move the oar to San Francisco.

The first coin produced was the Liberty Seated 1870-CC dollar. A person who had deposited silver at the mint received 2,303 silver dollars. Shortly afterwards, gold eagles, half eagles and double eagles were struck. The Mint did not strike coins made of copper or nickel, and it never struck half dimes, gold dollars, quarter eagles, or three dollar gold coins.

Gobrecht became the third Chief Engraver at the United States Mint. He was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania in 1785. His father was a German immigrant, and his mother traced her ancestry to the early settlers of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Gobrecht married Mary Hewes in 1818. One of his early positions was as an engraver of clocks in Baltimore. Later he went to Philadelphia where he became a banknote engraver. He invented a machine that allowed one to convert a three-dimensional medal into an illustration. In 1826 Gobrecht did his first work for the Mint as an assistant to William Kneass. After Kneass suffered a debilitating stroke, Gobrecht did all the die and pattern work for the Mint. He became Chief Engraver in 1840 and served until his death in 1844. He was famous for his Liberty Seated motif, which was used for all denominations of silver coinage including the half-dime, dime, quarter dollar, half dollar and silver dollar. He also designed the Liberty Head gold eagle, a motif that was also used on the half-cent, the cent, the gold quarter eagle, and the gold half eagle.

In its population report, NGC shows 22 1874-CC half eagles in AU55 condition. As of May 2013, CAC has confirmed 3 of them at the AU55 level.