Twenty Cents

The silver twenty-cent piece was the shortest-lived denomination of U.S. coinage, with a brief production that lasted from 1875 to 1878 only. The coin’s similarity, in both size and design, to the then-current liberty seated 25 cent ensured near-instant rejection by the American public. Large numbers were produced in 1875, with mintages falling off dramatically the next year. The 1877 and 1878 examples were proof-only issues made for collectors, and only in very small quantities.

Twenty-cent pieces were minted at Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Carson City, Nevada. The 1875-S is the coin most often encountered today. The 1876-CC is one of the great rarities of American numismatics, with only about two-dozen examples known to exist.