Values
A twenty-cent piece’s market depends on the mint and on whether the coin is one of the two circulation years. This page is a series reference, not a price list.
The mintage chart leaves G, VF, and MS-63 blank. The NGC US Coin Price Guide file retrieved 2026-08-21 does not cover the twenty-cent piece. The famous Carson City date is not a price printed here.
If you have one and want to sell it, start with how to sell a coin collection. A story about the melt is not a grade.
Key Dates
This page will not bold a row. Collectors ask about 1876-CC because most of the mintage was melted at the Mint. The chart shows the manufacture figure Wikipedia prints. It does not show how many are left, and it will not call that a key until a publisher’s key list is the source of the bold.
1875-S is the date you are most likely to find. It is still a twenty-cent piece. Check the edge.
Errors
The plain edge is the design, not a smooth-edge error. The seated Liberty looks like the quarter on purpose of the hub, and that similarity is why the denomination failed. It is not a mint error.
1875-S repunched mint mark. Numista notes repunched S varieties. They are not separate mintage rows. The S row is the whole San Francisco business strike.
1877 and 1878. Proof only. They are not circulation rows and they are not errors.
Compare the coin to the NGC Coin Explorer twenty-cent page. We do not host their plates.
Varieties
The twenty-cent piece is one design: seated Liberty, a left-facing eagle, and a plain edge. 1877 and 1878 are proofs and stay off the chart. There is no second design subtype to name.
Names follow PCGS CoinFacts and NGC, the same publishers this site already cites. This is a name list, not a price list and not a count.
Mintage
Circulation strikes only. Proofs stay off.
| Year | Mint | Mintage | G | VF | MS-63 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1875 | P | 36,910 | — | — | — |
| 1875 | CC | 133,290 | — | — | — |
| 1875 | S | 1,155,000 Repunched mint marks stay inside this San Francisco total. | — | — | — |
| 1876 | P | 14,640 | — | — | — |
| 1876 | CC | 10,000 Wikipedia manufacture figure. Most were melted. This is not a survival count. | — | — | — |
Mintage: the note under this table names the page that printed each count. These figures are not an NGC Coin Explorer extract and they are not the 1974 Mint pamphlet.
Collector-standard year/mint presentation follows A Guide Book of United States Coins (the Red Book). These cells are Mint manufacture figures, not a Red Book net or melt.
Values: NGC US Coin Price Guide, retrieved 2026-08-21. Guide values, not offers. Not melt. NGC IDs link to the same publisher’s price-guide listing.
Key date names: PCGS CoinFacts (2026-08-21). Bold rows are only dates that publisher named.
Circulation strikes from the Wikipedia twenty-cent table, which cites Breen and Yeoman, retrieved 2026-10-06. 1877 and 1878 are proof-only. 1876-CC is the Wikipedia manufacture figure, not a count of coins that survived the melt.
The figures are the circulation column on the Wikipedia twenty-cent table, which cites Breen and Yeoman. 1877 and 1878 are proof-only. The 1876-CC row is coins struck, not coins that left the Mint and stayed out.
Read the edge. A reeded edge is a quarter.
Specifications
These are mint specs, not what a dealer pays. Wear can take a little weight off. We will not invent a tolerance. The coin is smaller than a quarter and the edge is plain. That was the whole idea. It was not enough.
| Specification | Figure |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 22 mm |
| Thickness | Not printed |
| Weight | 5 g |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Christian Gobrecht obverse, reworked by William Barber; William Barber reverse |
Diameter 22 mm, weight 5 g, and 90% silver are the Numista Seated Liberty twenty-cent type-page figures (N#18403). PCGS CoinFacts prints 22.00 mm and 5.00 g on the 1875 regular-strike page and does not print a thickness. Numista does not either. This is not a Seated quarter.
Grading
A twenty-cent piece wears first on Liberty’s leg and the eagle’s wing. The edge is plain. A reeded edge means you are holding a quarter.
1876-CC is a manufacture figure on the mintage chart, not a survival count and not a grade.
Key Diagnostic Areas
| Area | What to examine | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Liberty’s leg and shield | The knee, the shin, and the shield lines. | Those high points go flat the way they do on a seated quarter. The plain edge is what separates the denominations. |
| The eagle | The wing feathers and the head. | The reverse eagle is this type. TWENTY CENTS should still be readable in mid grades. |
| The edge | Plain versus reeded. | Plain is the design. Reeded is a quarter, not a smooth-edge error. |
| Mint mark | The mark under the eagle: none, CC, or S. | 1876-CC is the date people ask about. The mint mark has to be there. A story is not a mint mark. |
Circulated & Mint State
These cards describe this coin, not a second copy of the P-1 through MS-70 chart. The shared numbers live on the glossary.
See graded photos. The photos that show what VF looks like live at PCGS. We do not host their plates. NGC Coin Explorer is another look if you want a second set.
What each named grade looks like on this design.
Poor
Poor
A disk you can still call a twenty-cent piece if you already know the type.
- Liberty’s leg and the eagle’s wing are gone.
- The date may be a shadow. Do not scrape it.
- Shine does not make this a better coin.
AG
About Good
You might read a digit. The high points on this twenty-cent piece are already slick.
- Liberty’s leg and the eagle’s wing are worn to a blank patch.
- If you cannot read the date without hoping, stay here.
- A 1875-S is still this grade if it is this worn.
Good
Good
The date is readable. The design is still mostly an outline.
- Liberty’s leg and the eagle’s wing are flat. The type is an outline, not a portrait.
- The rim should be full enough to hold the legend.
- This is a worn coin, not a details story.
VG
Very Good
The date is clear. A little life returns away from the high points.
- Some leftover detail sits away from liberty’s leg and the eagle’s wing.
- The high points are still tired.
- Do not clean the date to “see it better.”
Fine
Fine
You can follow the design. The high points are outlined, not sharp.
- Liberty’s leg and the eagle’s wing are outlined and flat — no real sharpness yet.
- The rest of the coin can look busier than the grade.
- The date should be clear. The mint mark should be too, if there is one.
VF
Very Fine
The type is doing real work. Liberty’s leg and the eagle’s wing still decide.
- Leftover detail sits on liberty’s leg and the eagle’s wing. The centers are still the worn spot.
- Marks do not raise the grade.
- A regular 1875-S is still this grade if it is this worn.
EF
Extremely Fine
Most of the coin looks sharp. The high points tell on it.
- Light wear on liberty’s leg and the eagle’s wing.
- The rest of the coin can look better than the grade. Trust the high points.
- The date should be sharp.
AU
About Uncirculated
Almost no wear — and “almost” lives on the same high points.
- A trace of rub on liberty’s leg and the eagle’s wing.
- Luster may still sit in the fields. Rub on those high points is still rub.
- A bright coin with a slick high point is still slick.
Basal MS
Mint State
No wear. The fight is marks and luster, not how white the coin looks.
- No rub on liberty’s leg and the eagle’s wing.
- Marks and luster decide how this mint-state coin lives.
- A bright chewed-up coin is still chewed-up.
Choice
Choice Mint State
Still no wear. Cleaner fields than basal mint state.
- Same no-wear rule on liberty’s leg and the eagle’s wing.
- Fewer marks in the fields. Luster is more intact.
- White is not a grade.
Gem
Gem Mint State
A clean twenty-cent piece for this type. Still mint state, still not a story.
- No wear on liberty’s leg and the eagle’s wing.
- Marks and luster, not a romance about a date or a white field.
- A slab is an opinion in plastic. The glossary has the numbers.
1877 and 1878 are proof-only. This page does not invent a PR price grid. The proof numbers live on the glossary.
Copper color designations do not apply to this silver coin. See the Lincoln Wheat cent and the glossary.
Overview
A twenty-cent piece is the silver coin of 1875 and 1876 with a seated Liberty on the front and a left-facing eagle on the back. William Barber designed the reverse and reworked Gobrecht’s seated Liberty. People called it a double dime. It lasted two circulation years. 1877 and 1878 are proofs.
It is not a Seated Liberty quarter. The quarter is larger and reeded. If the edge sings against a table, you are holding the wrong denomination.
This page is a series article, not a shop listing.
History
Nevada Senator John P. Jones pushed the denomination for the West, where a twenty-cent coin would make change against a quarter without using the half dime the country had just dropped. The Mint struck it in 1875 at Philadelphia, Carson City, and San Francisco. Demand died. Congress abolished it in 1878. Most 1876-CC pieces were melted before they could circulate. This page will not invent how many remain.
Design
Obverse: Liberty seated, a shield, a liberty pole, thirteen stars, and the date. There is no legend on the obverse, which is one reason it was confused with the quarter. Reverse: an eagle facing left, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and TWENTY CENTS. The mint mark, when there is one, sits under the eagle. The edge is plain.
Look at the eagle’s wing and Liberty’s leg. Those go flat. Then run a finger on the edge before you call it a quarter.
People Also Ask
What years are twenty-cent pieces?
Circulation strikes are 1875 and 1876. Philadelphia, Carson City, and San Francisco struck 1875. Philadelphia and Carson City struck 1876. 1877 and 1878 are proof-only and stay off this chart.
How much is a twenty-cent piece worth?
It depends on the date, the mint, and the grade. This page does not print guide prices. The 1876-CC mintage is a manufacture figure, not a count of survivors.
Why did the twenty-cent piece fail?
It was close in size to the quarter and the obverse was the same seated Liberty. The edge is plain, which was supposed to separate them. In a pocket it did not.
Is 1876-CC a mintage of 10,000 survivors?
No. Wikipedia’s circulation column, citing Breen and Yeoman, prints 10,000 pieces struck. Most were melted. This chart does not print a survival estimate.
Collector Considerations
Buy the denomination you can prove. A common 1875-S with a plain edge is the type. A 1876-CC story without the coin is just a story.
There is no legal type photograph on this page yet. A dealer scan labeled public domain was not used. The placeholder is intentional.
If you inherited one, leave the surfaces alone. Silver wipes. The coin dealer directory starts in Ohio.
For the quarter people confuse it with, read the Seated Liberty quarter. For the trade coin of the same decade, read the Trade dollar.
A Final Word
Twenty-cent pieces reward an edge check. Plain means this coin. Reeded means you have a quarter.
When you want the seated quarter, that page is already here.