Rusty Goe: The three working mints in the U.S. had produced nearly 1.25 million trade dollars in the last six months of 1873. With favorable acceptance of the large coins by the Chinese and progressively more abundant bullion deposits coming from the Bonanza Firm's Consolidated Virginia Mine, prospects looked promising for heavier outputs of trade dollars in 1874.

On February 11, 1874, the Nevada State Journal in Reno published a brief announcement that had first appeared in Carson City's Appeal, about improvements made at the local mint. "In order to be able to meet the demands of the increasing bullion products of the Comstock, the capacity of the refinery department of the Carson Mint has been doubled."

The Carson Mint had coined 10,000 trade dollars on the last day of 1873. By all indications, this momentum would carry forward into 1874 and output of these exchange-coins would increase rapidly. The first month of the year started out more slowly than the average achieved in 1873, possibly because the renovation project in the refinery interrupted other work at times. In fact, bullion deposits during January and February 1874 were noticeably lower, compared to what the mint had continually received in each period of the previous year.

By March, the pace had accelerated. Mint workers increased their output with each passing month for the rest of the year, except for June, when they took a breather during annual cleanup and settlement time.

After Director Linderman's visit at the end of June to supervise the annual settlement in company with another U.S. Mint official, M.V. Davis, the local newspapers implied that workers at the Carson branch suspected that, "Changes have been made." Although the papers never offered an explanation, by August a new superintendent, James Crawford, from Dayton, Nevada had been appointed to replace Frank D. Hetrich. The only complaint recorded stated that the residents in Carson City had circulated a petition asking the Bureau of the Mint to have the chimney on the local branch raised 100 feet so smoke from it would not congest the breathing air below.

With Superintendent Crawford fully in charge by September, the Appeal in early October announced that the Carson Mint had just finished its busiest month ever. The coining department had turned out almost $423,000 face value in coins, apportioned in three gold denominations totaling $213,840, and $209,000 in trade dollars. In October, Crawford and his staff set another record for coinage output, besting September's total by about $75,000.

The records show that the Carson Mint produced 285,200 trade dollars in the first half of 1874, and, after shifting into a higher gear, churned out 1,088,000 in the second half.

Considering the high mintage figure, especially in comparison to the one from 1873, the survival rate for 1874-CC trade dollars is infinitesimal. Still, there is a sufficient supply, at least for now, of examples available when looking at all grade categories. When collectors search for pieces in the highest conditions of Mint State however, the story changes.

Q. David Bowers: The mintage of trade dollars in 1874 rose to 1,373,200. Nearly all were shipped to China, but as they were legal tender some circulated domestically. As noted under 1873-CC numismatic interest during the era was at the vanishing point or close to it, with the result that the Battle Born collection MS-65 is of exceptional merit.

Rusty Goe estimates that 1,500 to 2,250 exist in all grades and 185 to 225 Uncirculated. In this year, 1,373,200 trade dollars were produced in San Francisco.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the August 2012 Battle Born Collection of Carson City Coinage, where it realized $31,725.