1876-CC Twenty Cent Piece

AI-generated illustration — not a photograph of a genuine coin.

Mintage 10,000, survivors 16–18: the 'Duke of Carson City Coins' (Rusty Goe via Heritage).

History

The Carson City Mint struck 10,000 twenty-cent pieces in 1876, believed to have been produced entirely during the first week of May from a single die pair (CoinWeek; Heritage Auctions, accessed 2026-09-16).
In July 1876 Congress moved to repeal the Mint’s authority to strike the denomination; President Ulysses S. Grant signed the repeal in January 1877, and on January 20, 1877 the 1876-CC dies were destroyed while Mint Director Henry R. Linderman ordered all specimens on hand melted (CoinWeek; Heritage Auctions, accessed 2026-09-16).
The twenty-cent piece ran 1875–1878 (proofs only in the final two years); the denomination failed because it was nearly identical in size to the quarter with an almost identical obverse, and the public confused the two (Wikipedia; Heritage Auctions, accessed 2026-09-16).
Carson City specialist Rusty Goe rosters 17 surviving examples; Heritage describes ‘Only 16 Examples Traced,’ with estimates of 16–18 survivors including the ‘Maryland Hoard’ of seven to nine uncirculated pieces found near Baltimore in the late 1950s and unveiled by dealer Tom Warfield in 1957 (Heritage Auctions; CoinWeek, accessed 2026-09-16).
The CC mintmark sits beneath the eagle on the reverse (Wikipedia; Heritage Auctions, accessed 2026-09-16).

1875-CC — 133,290 struck, the first Carson City twenty-cent issue (Heritage Auctions)
1876-CC — 10,000 struck, nearly all melted; the series key (CoinWeek; Heritage Auctions)
1877–1878 — proof-only final years (Wikipedia)

KEY DIAGNOSTIC MARKERS: every known example shows prominent doubling of the raised LIBERTY on the shield plus doubling of the left-side stars (stars 2–8), and errant parts of a second 8 and 7 buried in the denticles at 6 o’clock (Heritage Auctions).
One die pair struck all known coins; the obverse die was bungled in Philadelphia before shipment (CoinWeek).
The CC mintmark is spaced wider than on any other Carson City issue: the first C sits above the Y in TWENTY, the second above the C in CENTS (Heritage Auctions, quoting Rusty Goe).
The denomination’s plain edge (unlike the quarter’s reeded edge) is a genuine design feature, not damage — but it failed to prevent public confusion (Wikipedia; Heritage Auctions).