1839 Quarter Eagle - 1839 $2.50 NGC MS61. This rare, Mint State Classic Head 1839 Quarter Eagle is tied for the second finest known at both NGC and PCGS. The coin has an above average strike with full details on most of the stars, on Libertys higher curls, and on the reverse rims. There is no wear, as expected for an Uncirculated coin. The surfaces are original and clean for the grade. Muted mint luster is seen within the devices on both sides of this eye-appealing piece. The date has been called an overdate, but it is in reality a defective punch from which all coins of this date were struck.

William Kneass designed the Classic Head quarter eagle. Born is Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Kneass was an engraver of plates for books and had his business on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. In addition to line engraving he also made intaglio prints. He worked in two firms, Kneass & Delaker and Young & Kneass & Co. At the Mint, Kneass was known as a popular and useful Engraver, who worked well and quickly to furnish all the dies that were needed for coinage during his time of office. He was remembered as, a warm gentleman of the old-school, who had the rare quality of engaging and winning the esteem and affection of children and youth. Kneass suffered a stroke in August, 1835. From then until his death, Assistant Engraver Christian Gobrecht did the pattern and die work at the Mint. He was succeeded by Gobrecht as Chief Engraver on December 21, 1840. 

The Classic Head quarter eagle was minted from 1834 to 1839. 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.

Because the gold coinage in circulation was being melted for its bullion value, 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 the 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.

In 1826 Gobrecht did his first work for the Mint as an assistant to Kneass. The former assistant became Chief Engraver in 1840 and served until his death in 1844. He was famous for his Liberty Seated motif which was used for all denominations of silver coinage including the half-dime, dime, quarter dollar, half dollar and silver dollar. He also designed the Liberty Head gold eagle, a motif that was also used on the half-cent, the cent, the gold quarter eagle, and the gold half eagle. 

The 1839 Classic Head quarter eagle is rare. Both NGC and PCGS have certified only 158 pieces in all grades. In its population report, NGC shows 4 in MS61 with 2 better, and PCGS has 4 with 1 better. These numbers do not account for crossovers and resubmissions.