If you’ve ever had a pocket piece, then you understand how long it takes a coin to acquire the sort of heavy wear that might take it down to a Fine, Very Good, Good or even an About Good, Fair or Poor grade. While many collectors gravitate toward high-end Mint State coins, others are drawn to the history and magic of heavily circulated coins. Finding a problem-free example of an otherwise cost-prohibitive rarity with solid eye appeal can be a real challenge that takes patience, but for many, the result is worth the work. Here is an example of such a coin.

The Coin:

1871-CC Seated Liberty quarter dollar, PCGS About Good 3

The Price:

$4,560

The Story:

The Carson City Mint in Nevada began striking coins in 1870 and quarter dollar production in that year was modest with just 8,340 struck. Numbers improved the next year with the production of 10,890 1871-CC Seated Liberty quarter dollars, including this one, graded About Good 3 by Professional Coin Grading Service that sold for $4,560 on Feb. 22 at Heritage’s Premier Session auction in Long Beach, California. The price was an improvement on the $3,818.75 it realized four years ago, but less than the $5,875 that a PCGS Good 4 example with a green Certified Acceptance Corp. sticker realized at Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ March 2017 Baltimore auction.

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By obverse wear alone it is a solid Good, with full rims and even surfaces. The reverse is substantially more worn than the obverse, with the legends surrounding the rims largely worn away and even the coveted CC Mint mark scarcely legible. Given the strength of the obverse with its bold date, PCGS called it About Good 3, and the handful of imperfections, most notably two heavy dings next to the stars in the upper right obverse, are not particularly distracting.

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