Numismatic Guaranty Corp. has certified a double struck 1882-CC Morgan dollar, still encapsulated within its General Services Administration holder.
Chris Miner, proprietor of Holland Coin & Jewelry in Holland, Mich., submitted the coin. He acquired it in a larger purchase of GSA dollars. Initially, it was ignored.
Having grown up in a Michigan town called Carson City, Miner has long been interested in Carson City dollars.
When Miner discovered the error he sent it to NGC for certification. NGC graded it MS-62. He wanted the coin to remain in its GSA holder as a marker of its pedigree and history.
Still mulling over his options, Miner does plan to sell his find at auction later this year.
With regard to the doubling, the first strike was approximately 5 percent off-center and shifted towards 6 o?clock. The second strike was properly centered on the planchet. A doubling of detail is visible throughout the coin, and an off-center date appears just beneath the regular date, overstruck by denticles during the second strike.
A double struck error occurs when a coin does not exit the dies after striking and receives a second strike from the dies.
NGC began to certify Morgan dollars in their original GSA holders in January, 2003. Since then, NGC has graded over 30,000 Morgans.
A few error coins have been encountered, but all were relatively minor, according to NGC ? either struck-through or lamination errors.
NGC considers this the most significant error coin it has seen in a GSA holder.
Mint error expert David J. Camire says that ?only about a dozen double struck Morgan dollars are known, and most are double struck in collar and most are dated 1921. This is a great find.?
The GSA was responsible for sorting and marketing the U.S. Treasury?s hoard of silver dollars after the Treasury stopped releasing dollar coins in 1964.
A series of sales between 1973 to 1980 dispersed the hoard, which contained approximately three million silver dollars, mostly Morgans minted at Carson City. Accouting for most of the known Mint State CC Morgans still around, coins from the hoard were sealed in rigid plastic holders and boxed with a message from then President Richard M. Nixon for sale.
NGC certifies coins in these government holders by strapping them with a tamper-evident band. Grade and other attribution details are printed on its surface, and holograms are placed on the cases top and bottom edges.
GSA dollars can be submitted to NGC under regular tiers. VarietyPlus VAM attribution is also available. All GSA dollars must be submitted on invoices separate from other submissions, without their accompanying cardboard boxes. Contact NGC Customer Service with questions at (800) NGC-COIN or by email at service@ngccoin.com.
