NICE 1885-CC DOUBLE EAGLE

Only 9,450 double eagles were struck at the Carson City mint in 1885 and this issue is the second rarest CC twenty struck after 1879; trailing only the low mintage 1891-CC. The 1885-CC is not often seen above AU50 and the few AU53 to AU55 coins which have been available in recent years have been bright from repeated scrubbings.

This fresh example has deep, rich orange-gold color which is totally “right” for the issue. There is a good amount of mint luster present and were it not for some small, scattered obverse marks and AU55 grade would not be out of the question.

No PCGS AU53 1885-CC has sold at auction since January 2013. The last NGC AU53 to sell brought $14,100 as Heritage 4/15: 5452 and it was not nearly as choice as the present example. A nice NGC AU55 with CAC approval just sold for $23,500 in the Heritage 2015 ANA auction.

While many of the common Type Three CC double eagles are now well overpriced, in my opinion, the four rare issues (1878-CC, 1879-CC, 1885-CC and 1891-CC) remain good values in comparison.