1840-C Quarter Eagle - 1840-C $2.50 NGC AU55. This first-year-of-type, Southern branch mint 1840-C Quarter Eagle is sharply struck with full details seen on the centers of the stars, the eagles neck, and the lower left of the shield. Sufficient separation exists in the lines of Libertys hair and the coronet to warrant the grade. The surfaces of this 1840-C Quarter Eagle are original, clean, and, for the grade, free of individually distracting marks or abrasions. Traces of mint luster remain within the devices, especially in protected areas. The very small mintmark is the same one used on the 1841-C, 1842-C, and 1843-C Small Date quarter eagles.

In the 1790s gold was accidentally discovered in North Carolina. The first United States Gold Rush took place in the early 1800s in North Carolina and Georgia. In the area around Charlotte, North Carolina almost 100 gold mines were in operation. Second only to farming, prospecting for gold became the main source of employment in North Carolina. The most gold produced in the United States came from North Carolina until 1848, when it was discovered in California.

The gold that was produced at Charlotte had to be refined and standardized so it would have commercial value. Private mints like the Bechtlers and Templeton Reids opened to assay the new gold and convert it to coinage. In order to standardize this coinage and because transportation to Philadelphia was so poor as a result of bandits, unfriendly Indians, and poor roads, a branch mint in Charlotte was opened in 1836.

The 1840-C had an original mintage of 12,822, and it is considered scarce today in all conditions. In its population report, NGC shows 27 in AU55 with 39 better.