1877-CC Double Eagle (1877-CC $20) NGC AU58. This near-mint scarce, 1877-CC Double Eagle shows luster within the devices. A couple of light scattered marks on each side and the slightest bit of wear on the highest points keep it from an uncirculated grade. The strike on the obverse is strong and somewhat less so on the shield of the reverse. The 1877 double eagle was the first year of a new type. TWENTY DOLLARS on the reverse replaces TWENTY D.

This change created the Type 3 double eagle. Type 1 was different in that the motto IN GOD WE TRUST had not been added. Like the addition of the motto to the reverse of the previous double eagle, changing the denomination did not cause any major change in the rest of the coins design. William Barber who by then was the Engraver following James Longacres death in 1869 made the modification.

Longacres design for the double eagle shows a Liberty head in profile facing left wearing coronet inscribed LIBERTY. Her hair is tightly tied in the back with two loose curls hanging down her neck to the end of the truncation. She is surrounded by thirteen six pointed stars with the date below. Dentils are near the edge on both sides of the coin. The reverse shows a heraldic eagle with elaborate ribbons on both sides of the shield extending from the top corner down to the eagles tail feathers. The ribbons are inscribed, on the left E PLURIBUS and UNUM on the right. The ribbons were added to the design to symbolize the denomination since this was the first twenty dollar coin. There is an oval of thirteen stars above the eagles head in to which the motto was inserted, and an arc of rays from wing tip to wing tip behind the upper half of the oval. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is in an arc above the eagle, and the denomination is below. The mint mark is between the tail feathers and the denomination.

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. Coins issued from the Carson City Mint used the CC mint mark.

The 1877-CC had an original mintage of 42,565; however, the coin is a condition rarity and is scarce in AU58. In its population report NGC shows only 19 coins grading higher.