Jeff Ambio: The only known obverse of the 1878-CC eagle has a large date set low in the field. The CC mintmark is larger and differently shaped than that employed on all earlier dated eagles from this Mint. It is placed relatively high in the field, is closer to the arrow feather than the word TEN, and the second C is centered over the letter N. Light clash marks from the obverse portrait are present in the field both above and below the eagle's left (facing) wing.

Rusty Goe: The Carson City Mint delivered the last tailings of its contribution to the Treasury's specie-resumption fund of subsidiary silver coins in January and February 1878. Soon after, Mint Director H.R. Linderman telegraphed both Pacific Coast facilities and ordered them to discontinue the coinage of gold and subsidiary silver. The suspension of trade dollars came next. A new phase was ready to launch as the Bureau of the Mint prepared to introduce a new kind of silver dollar.

One-sixth of the Carson Mint's personnel were still on suspension in March 1878. With no more orders for small denomination silver pieces and trade dollars coming in, and gold-coin production on hold, Coiner Levi Dague's department remained idle, as workers eagerly awaited the delivery of the new silver dollar dies. Gold deposits in Carson City had dwindled to bare minimums even though gold production in the region remained relatively healthy.

At the end of June the coinage statement provided by the Carson Mint's cashier showed that fewer than 1,500 gold eagles were stored in his vault. These were left over from 1877, as the coining department had not delivered any examples of this denomination since August of that year. Sometime after July 1878, Coiner Dague delivered 3,244 eagles, the entire annual output.

Q. David Bowers: In 1878 it is deja vu all over again. While Mint State Carson City silver coins of 1878 can be found in the marketplace, with the Morgan dollar being plentiful, gold coins at this level are frustratingly rare, this being especially so for the half eagle and eagle. Although there are no "impossible" rarities among Carson City gold coins, assembling a high-level set of fives and tens can take years for a connoisseur who sets a goal of at least AU and has a well-fortified bank account. I estimate that only 60 to 90 eagles exist of this date and Mint, while Rusty Goe suggests 90 to 115.

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 $82,250.