1840-O Quarter Eagle - 1840-O $2.50 NGC AU55 CAC. This Choice AU, Southern branch mint, first-year-of-type 1840-O Quarter Eagle is tied for the second finest known at CAC. The coin has bright mint luster in protected areas of both sides of the coin. Light yellow gold and darker gold are seen on both sides, indicating the coins originality. The surfaces are extremely clean for the grade with no notable abrasion marks or other distractions. The strike is typical for the date and mint with soft centers, especially so on the reverse. About half of the obverse stars show full details as well as the date and the reverse legends. Both sides have strong, full dentils. The CAC sticker tells us that the coin is a premium quality piece that fully merits the assigned grade.

Christian Gobrecht designed the Liberty Head quarter eagle. It was produced without substantial modification from 1840 to 1907, the longest span in any United States coinage series. It uses the Coronet design which shows Liberty in profile facing left, her hair tied tightly in beads, except for two curls one down the back of her neck and the other on the side below her ear, with the word LIBERTY inscribed on the coronet. She is surrounded by thirteen stars, and the date is below the truncation. Dentils are around the periphery of both sides. The reverse shows a heraldic eagle facing left holding arrows and olive branch it its talons. The inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA arcs around it, interrupted by the wing tips, and the denomination 2 D. is below. The denomination is separated from the legend with dots. The mintmark is on the reverse above the denomination.

The New Orleans Mint was authorized in 1835 by President Andrew Jackson, hero of the battle of New Orleans. The bill that Jackson signed also authorized the mints at Charlotte and Dahlonega. William Strickland, a Philadelphia architect designed all three branch mint buildings. The New Orleans Mint building was made in the solid, bulky Greek Revival style of architecture. It was the largest of the three branch mints and located at major port of entry. Unfortunately Strickland did not account for the soft ground around the site. Because of it, the building had to undergo numerous repairs throughout its history.

Authorized to produce gold and silver, the New Orleans Mint struck quarter eagles and dimes in 1839. It operated from 1838 to 1909. In that time period 427 million silver and gold coins with the O mintmark were coined. By the mid 1850s denominations made in New Orleans included three-cent silver pieces, half-dimes, dimes, quarters, half dollars, silver dollars, gold dollars, quarter eagles, three-dollar pieces, half eagles, eagles, and double eagles. The first deposit was of Mexican dollars which amounted to more than 32,400 dollars. The first coins struck were Liberty Seated dimes. Each year between the beginning of August and the end of November, the mint closed because of the annual outbreak of yellow fever.

In its population report, CAC, as of September 2013, shows 2 1840-O Quarter Eagles confirmed in AU55 condition with 3 better. Only 6 percent of all NGC and PCGS certified 1840-O quarter eagles have been given a CAC sticker.