The 1900-O/CC Morgan Dollar — The Last Carson City Silver Dollar

The Last Carson City Morgan Dollar

The Carson City Mint closed in 1893. Seven years later, its ghost appeared on a Morgan Dollar.

The Carson City Mint only struck silver Morgan Dollars for 13 years, from 1878 to 1885 and again from 1889 to 1893. Devoted Carson City collectors also seek out a variety produced in 1900 — seven years after the last regular-issue CC Morgan rolled off the presses. It is sometimes called "The Last Carson City Morgan Dollar."

Why Carson City?

The Carson City Mint opened in 1870 to process the enormous silver output of the Comstock Lode in nearby Virginia City, Nevada. The government built a mint close to the source, though in practice most Comstock silver still went over the mountains to the San Francisco Mint. For over two decades, the Carson City Mint struck silver and gold coins that circulated throughout the American West.

But the Comstock Lode's output declined through the 1880s, and by 1893 the Carson City Mint struck its final coins. In 1899 the building became a U.S. Assay Office, no longer a mint. With that closure ended any hope of ever seeing "CC" on a Morgan Dollar again.

Or so everyone thought.

The Mystery

In 1900, the New Orleans Mint struck Morgan Dollars bearing the "O" mint mark — business as usual. But on some of these coins, careful examination reveals something unexpected beneath the "O": the faint but unmistakable outline of "CC" showing through.

The "O" mint mark with the ghost of "CC" visible beneath. Red arrows indicate where the original Carson City mint mark shows through the New Orleans overpunch.

How did a Carson City mint mark end up on a coin struck seven years after that mint closed?

Theory 1: Repurposed Dies

All Morgan Dollar dies were manufactured at the Philadelphia Mint before being shipped to branch mints. When the Carson City Mint closed in 1893, Philadelphia may have had extra reverse dies already punched with "CC" mint marks — dies that were prepared in advance but never shipped.

Rather than destroying these unused dies, a practical-minded mint worker may have repurposed them by stamping the New Orleans "O" mint mark directly over the existing "CC." This theory is generally considered the more likely explanation, since multiple dies were affected — not just one.

Theory 2: A Mint Worker's Mistake

At the time, mint marks were hand-punched onto individual dies after they were manufactured. A "CC" punch may still have existed at the Philadelphia Mint alongside the other mint mark punches. An absent-minded worker could have grabbed the wrong punch, stamped "CC" onto dies intended for New Orleans, and then corrected the error by overpunching with the proper "O."

How Many Exist?

As noted by Leroy Van Allen and A. George Mallis in their Comprehensive Catalog and Encyclopedia of Morgan and Peace Dollars, at least six die marriages contain the O/CC over mint mark variety. With 12,590,000 1900-O Morgan Dollars struck, a 2020 CoinWeek article written for PCGS estimates that perhaps 10% of the original mintage — roughly 1.2 million coins — may have been struck from O/CC dies.

Despite that potentially large original production, identifying the variety requires magnification and careful examination.

What to Look For

The diagnostic feature is visible on the reverse, below the bow of the wreath and above the DO in DOLLAR, where the mint mark sits. Under 5x–10x magnification, look for:

• Parts of the "CC" showing beside the "O" (to its left or right, and on some dies higher), depending on the die
• A slightly irregular or "busy" appearance to the mint mark area compared to a normal 1900-O
• Remnants of the original "C" letters visible within or around the "O"

The over mint mark is present on every one of these die marriages, though the clarity of the underlying CC varies from die to die. Some show bold, easily visible CC remnants; others require careful examination under good lighting.

Collector Value

For Carson City collectors who have completed their 1878–1893 CC date set, the 1900-O/CC offers one more piece of the story.

The Last Carson City Morgan Dollar

While 1893 will always be the year the Carson City Mint struck its final silver dollar, the 1900-O/CC carries a piece of Carson City with it — a ghost mint mark from a mint that had already closed, preserved in steel and silver. Whether the result of frugality or a simple mistake, it remains a fascinating over mint mark variety.

Over mint marks like the 1900-O/CC occur when two different mint mark letters appear on the same die — one punched over the other. To learn more about how these varieties are created and identified, visit our Over Mint Mark (OMM) learn page. You can also browse 1900-O Morgan Dollar listings in the NumisDex catalog.