Quarter Eagle

The quarter eagle was a gold coin issued by the United States with a denomination of two hundred and fifty cents, or two dollars and fifty cents. It was given its name in the Coinage Act of 1792, as a derivation from the US ten-dollar eagle coin. Its purchasing power in 1800 would be equivalent to $71.12 in 2015 dollars.

Designed by Robert Scot, the quarter eagle denomination was struck at the main mint at Philadelphia, and branch mints in Charlotte (1838-1859 not inclusive), New Orleans (1838-1857 only), and Denver (1911-1925). The first issues weighed 67.5 grains, fineness .9167, until the weight was modified to 64.5 grains and the fineness changed to .8992 by the Act of June 28, 1834. The Act of January 18, 1837 established a fineness of .900. This means that 1837 and later quarter eagles contain 0.121 Troy Oz. of gold content.

As relatively fewer coins were struck prior to 1834, combined with their higher gold content (promoting melting for their bullion content), all of the early issues range from scarce to rare. The first issues were struck in 1796. Any proof date prior to 1856 is rare, and will command a premium in any condition. The quarter eagle denomination was officially discontinued in 1933 with the removal of the United States from the Gold Standard, although the last date of issue was 1929.

Also known as the "Turban Head", this interpretation of Liberty wearing a turban-like cap was designed by Robert Scot and was minted from 1796 to 1807. There were three varieties of this design. First came the Capped Bust facing right variety. There were two variations of this design, no stars on the obverse, and stars on the obverse. The 'no stars' variety was produced only in 1796, replaced with the stars. In 1808, Liberty was redesigned by John Reich, to be wearing more of a traditional cap rather than a turban. This design was minted for 1808 only, but in 1821 the mint reinstated the quarter eagle and it was produced again until 1827, slightly scaled down to 18.5 millimeters from the original 20. In 1829, the quarter eagle was reduced in size again to 18.2 mm, and featured smaller letters and stars. This version of the design was produced until 1834.

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