1839-D $2.50 (1839-D Quarter Eagle) NGC MS61. This Southern branch mint, mint state, Classic Head 1839-D Quarter Eagle has subdued mint luster remaining in protected areas on both sides. Libertys curls are well struck as are about half of the stars. The rims are full and the dentils are sharp on both sides of the coin. No wear is seen, as expected for a mint state coin, and the surfaces are free of significant distractions.

The Classic Head Quarter Eagle was minted from 1834 to 1839. Designed by William Kneass, it shows a head of Liberty in profile facing left. She wears a LIBERTY inscribed headband that reveals the curly hair on top of her head, which also flows down her neck. She is surrounded by thirteen six-pointed stars, and the date is below. Dentils are around the periphery of the coin. The reverse shows a heraldic eagle with its head facing left. In its talons are olive branch and arrows, symbols of peace and preparedness. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is in an arc around the eagle, interrupted by the wing tips. The denomination written as 2 D. is below. The D mintmark for Dahlonega appears on the obverse between the truncation and the date.

Because the gold coinage in circulation was being melted for its gold content, Mint Director Samuel Moore ordered William Kneass to design quarter and half eagles with lower weight and fineness. He also told Kneass to omit the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM on the new Classic Head coins so they would be easily identified as being made with less gold content. This action prevented the older gold coins from being exported, and the public was thus induced to bring them into the Mint for recoinage.

The Classic Head motif chosen by Kneass is a copy of John Reichs Large Cent design of 1808-1814 and the half cents of 1825-1836. The eagle design is also similar to an earlier Reich eagle designed for gold coins.

There were several design changes in the series. In 1834 there were two heads, the Small Head and the Booby Head. The next year there was a taller head and a narrow bust. In that year Kneass suffered a debilitating stroke. Christian Gobrecht, his assistant, made the next dies. The 1836 had a Head of 1835 and another with a Head of 1834. No doubt these were made from earlier dies. In 1837 Gobrecht made a new die, which had his own change. The hair slopes back from the brow, distant from the sixth star. In 1838 he made a crude imitation of the Booby Head with tiny stars. In 1839 all of this uncertainty ended with the introduction of the Coronet Head motif that was standardized for sixty-seven years.

The discovery of gold in the early 1800s led to the establishment of two of the Southern branch Mints, Charlotte, North Carolina and Dahlonega, Georgia. In 1835 an act of Congress mandated that these two branch mints would coin only gold. In 1838 the first Dahlonega gold coins were made, and they were the Classic Head Half Eagle type. Because of the local alloys high silver content, Dahlonega coins often have a green-gold cast. They are also often weakly struck on irregular planchets. Dahlonega gold coins are eagerly sought by collectors and investors because of their low mintages and rarity. Modern D mint coins should not be confused with them. Today a coin bearing the D mintmark was minted in Denver, which began production in 1906.

The discovery of gold on Cherokee land in Georgia caused a large group of miners to come to the frontier town of Auraria, which is now Lumpkin County, Georgia. Its name derives from aurum, the Latin word for gold. Soon Dahlonega, which meant yellow money in Cherokee, would become the county seat. The miners need to convert oar and dust into bullion led to the establishment of private coiners, including the Bechtlers and Templeton Reid; however, because of a lack of standardization, there was pressure for a federal coinage to be created. The federal branch mint at Dahlonega was established to meet this need.

In its population report, NGC shows 7 1839-D quarter eagles graded MS61 with 7 better. PGCS has 2 with 10 better, and these numbers do not account for crossovers and resubmissions.