Jeff Ambio: Briggs obverse 1 accounts for approximately one third of extant 1878-CC quarters, and it is the most interesting variety of the issue. A long, thin die gouge diagonally bisects Liberty's midsection, and is crossed by a second, much shorter die gouge that originates at Liberty's left (facing) forearm. This is the so-called "cancelled obverse" variety of the issue, the physical evidence on coins such as this suggesting that employees at the Carson City Mint partially cancelled this die before it was used to strike some portion of the 1878-CC quarter issue. Considerable die rust is also evident throughout Liberty's portrait, suggesting that the die (perhaps after the cancellation attempt) was set aside for a period of time and not properly stored before being retrieved for production.

Rusty Goe: Going forward into 1878, observers of the Carson Mint had eight years of continuous operations by which to evaluate its performance during that period. In the early years, 1870 through 1874, costs per ton of mineral ore worked on and per piece made were much higher than the corresponding costs from 1875 through 1877. Astute commentators attributed this to the lower volumes of ore deposited and coins produced in those first four years.

The government had made it clear at the end of 1877 that the surge in coinage production precipitated by the Specie Resumption Act would soon come to an end. The Treasury Department had also announced that there would be a cessation of trade dollar production. At a critical time in 1878, the revival of the standard silver dollar, with features designed by George T. Morgan, saved Nevada's coin factory from possible extinction.

In the first month of that pivotal year of 1878, the Carson Mint coiners struck 684,000 two-bit pieces followed by another 312,000 in February which brought the total manufactured that year to 996,000, with no more to follow.

At least two obverse and three reverse dies were used during the striking of 1878-CC quarters. One of the obverse dies left an unforgettable impression on the pieces struck from it.

The distinguishing diagnostic on these, what some experts refer to as "semi-cancelled die," 1878-CC quarters is a raised line of metal that extends diagonally from inside Liberty's left elbow (facing) to her knee. Another, smaller spike rises perpendicularly from the knee area. The longer diagonal line across Liberty's torso, gives the impression that the obverse die the coiner used to strike it was snatched at the last minute just after the mint's blacksmith had given it an initial whap with his chisel. The circumstances surrounding how these "semi-cancelled die" quarters were made will remain one of those unsolved numismatic mysteries.

Q. David Bowers: Today, it is estimated that 600 to 900 1878-CC quarters exist in all grades, making it the scarcest variety after 1874, but still with enough around that they can be easily found. Mint State coins exist to the extent of perhaps 300 to 400, a generous survival rate.

By this final date of production of quarter dollars at the Carson City Mint, a total of 10,490,642 quarters had been struck there since 1870, in contrast to the Philadelphia Mint where 36,996,370 quarters had been made during the same period.

In recent decades, most notably since the 1950s and the advent of Walter Breen on the numismatic scene, many numismatists took second and third looks at their coins and interesting variations were discovered or, if known earlier, were placed in the limelight.

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 $25,850.