Quarter Eagles
- The two hundred and fifty cents or two dollars and fifty
cents coin is called the Quarter Eagle.
It derives its name from the ten dollar eagle coin. The
first issue was designed by Robert Scot and struck at the
mint in Philadelphia in 1796 and branch mints in Charlotte,
North Carolina from 1838 to 1859 (not inclusive); New Orleans,
Louisiana from 1838 to 1857; Dahlonega, Georgia from 1839
to 1859; and later in San Francisco from 1854 to 1879 and
Denver 1911 to 1925. At first it weighed 67.5 grains and
had a fineness of .9167. In June 1834, the weight and fineness
were changed to 64.5 grains and .8992; however, the Act
of January 18, 1837 changed the fineness to .900. Before
1834 few coins were struck. They are rare today because
of their low mintage numbers and high melting for bullion
because of their higher gold content. With the removal of
the United States from the gold standard, the denomination
was officially discontinued in 1933, but the last coin had
been issued in 1929.
The designs and designers of the
coins are as follows:
Turban Head or Capped
Bust to Right (1796 – 1807) – Robert Scot
Draped Bust or Capped
Bust to Left, Large Size (1808) – John Reich
Capped Head or Capped
Head to Left (1821 – 1834) – Robert Scot,
William Kneass
Classic Head or Classic
Head No Motto on Reverse (1834 – 1839) – William
Kneass
Liberty Head or Liberty
Head Coronet (1840 – 1907) – Christian Gobrecht
Indian Head (1908 –
1915, 1925 – 1929) – Bela Lyon Pratt
Turban Head or
Capped Bust to Right (1796 – 1807)
The Turban Head or Capped Bust to Right
quarter eagles, designed by Chief Engraver Robert Scot,
were minted from 1796 to 1807. None were minted from 1799
to 1801, or 1803. All of the coins in this series are
rare with the highest mintage of 6,812 in 1807. Except
for the stars, they have the same basic design.
The obverse shows a bust
of a female Liberty in profile facing right with the date
below and slightly to the left. The source of Scot’s
obverse design is probably a Roman engraving that copied
a Greek goddess. She wears a large, loose fitting cap, and
some of her hair sweeps up and around the cap, making it
seem like a turban. The cap itself is not a Phrygian cap,
which was emblematic of freedom. It was a close fitting
cap worn by freed slaves in ancient times to cover their
shorn heads. Slaves were not permitted to grow their hair.
So the cap used to cover these heads became associated with
freedom. However, when he was asked about it, Thomas Jefferson
said that the Phrygian cap was not an appropriate symbol
of freedom for the United States of America because we were
never slaves. Nonetheless, it persisted as a symbol in American
coinage perhaps because of its use in France and elsewhere
in Europe.
The reverse of the quarter
eagle has a heraldic eagle with its head turned to the left.
Its wings are raised and a banner is seen in front of the
right wing, across the neck and ending under the left wing.
It is inscribed E PLURIBUS UNUM. Around and above the eagle’s
head is an arrangement of stars. Above that is a chain of
six clouds. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, interrupted
by the wing tips, is around the periphery of the coin.
This reverse design was
taken from the Great Seal of the United States. In what
some have called colossal design blunder, Robert Scot placed
the arrows in the wrong talon. On the left side, the eagle’s
right talon, arrows symbolize aggressive militarism. They
should have been placed in the left talon with the olive
branch in the right. If this rearrangement was unintentional,
it shows a new, inexperienced country that can’t even
get its symbolism correct. If this was a deliberate rearrangement,
it shows a young country taking an aggressive stance during
a time of conflict. From 1798 to 1800 the country was engaged
with France in an undeclared naval war. Perhaps this symbolism
was being used to make a statement to France and others
about the sovereignty of the United States.
These coins have no denomination--
something that might appear as a sign of ineptitude on the
part of early Mint employees to someone familiar with United
States coinage of the 21st century. The omission was intentional,
however, as United States coinage was new to the world market
of the 18th century and the term “Quarter Eagle”
or “Two and One-half Dollars” would have been
unfamiliar to merchants of the day. Like European coinage
of the time, silver and gold pieces were valued by their
weight and fineness so the denomination was largely irrelevant.
Found
with Close and Wide Date. Less than 40 Close Dates known.
Wide Date has 8 embedded in bust. Reverse die used for
dimes of 1798 to 1800. Prohibitively rare in Mint State.
