With its original production run of 296,000 pieces, the 1881-CC boasts one of the lowest mintages of any Carson City Morgan dollar, even lower than the key-date 1893-CC, with its mintage of 677,000. However, there are many more survivors of the 1881-CC than the 1893-CC, and this is seen in terms of price and availability. Yes, the 1881-CC is one of the pricier CC Morgans but is available in decent quantities through MS66, above which it becomes a scarce coin. A handful of MS68s exist but are priced beyond the means of most collectors, though they find plenty of eager bids from deep-pocketed registry set collectors. PLs and DMPLs appear in the marketplace with regular frequency, even in the Gem range.
Obverse Description
Portrait of Liberty centered. On the left are found 7 stars with the words E*PLURIBUS*UNUM followed by 6 stars on the right. The date is positioned at the bottom.
Reverse Description
The heraldic eagle is centered holding a bunch of arrows and branch surrounded by and olive leaves. The words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA * ONE DOLLAR frame the periphery. Mint mark, if any, appears above the letters DO of DOLLAR.
