The rarity of an 1890 silver dollar is fundamentally determined by its mint of origin, which is indicated by a small mint mark on the coin's reverse. For the year 1890, Morgan silver dollars produced at the Philadelphia (no mint mark), New Orleans (O), and San Francisco (S) mints are not considered rare. These mints had very high production figures, with Philadelphia alone striking over 16 million coins, making them relatively common and accessible to collectors today.
The key factor that makes a specific 1890 silver dollar rare is the "CC" mint mark, signifying it was struck at the Carson City Mint. The 1890-CC Morgan dollar is a highly sought-after coin in the series. While its initial mintage was over two million, a significant historical event drastically reduced the number of surviving examples. Most of these coins were never released into circulation and instead were held in government vaults for decades.
The primary event contributing to the 1890-CC's rarity was the Pittman Act of 1918. This legislation authorized the melting of up to 350 million silver dollars to be converted into bullion. A large but unknown quantity of the 1890-CC dollars stored in Treasury vaults were destroyed under this act, permanently reducing the available supply and making any surviving coins scarcer.
A final nuance to the coin's rarity is the discovery of the GSA Hoard in the 1960s. This hoard contained a substantial number of uncirculated 1890-CC dollars, which were later sold to the public. Consequently, while the overall number of surviving 1890-CC dollars is low due to the Pittman Act melting, a significant portion of those that do exist are in high-grade, uncirculated condition. This creates a unique situation where the coin is rare in terms of total population, but high-quality examples are more available than one might otherwise expect.
