1843-C Quarter Eagle, Small Date - 1843-C $2.50, Small Date, NGC AU58. The 1843-C Small Date Quarter Eagle is one of the rarest of all the Charlotte Mint Quarter Eagles. This 1843-C Quarter Eagle is well struck on the periphery of the obverse with full details seen in the centers of the stars. The central portion of the reverse is typically struck for a pre-Civil War branch mint coin. This 1843-C Quarter Eagle exhibits sufficient separation in the lines of Libertys hair and the coronet to warrant the grade. The surfaces of this 1843-C Quarter Eagle are original, clean, and, for the grade, free of individually distracting marks worthy of note. Mint luster is found in protected areas of both sides. This 1843-C Quarter Eagle is identified by the Crosslet of the 4, the die crack from the point of the bust to the rim, and the characteristic die bulge over Libertys eye.

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.

Two years later the first half eagle was struck. Quarter eagles were minted later in 1838 and gold dollars in 1849. However, no coins were made in 1845 because there was a fire, and the entire structure burned to the ground. Its last coinage was in 1861, twenty-four years after it opened. During the Civil War, the Charlotte Mint continued coining gold; however, in October of 1861 the building was converted to a Confederate army hospital and headquarters. During Reconstruction, the building was used for offices by federal troops. In 1867 the mint became an assay office, which remained in operation until 1913. During World War I it was used by the Charlottes Womans Club and as a Red Cross station. In 1936 the site was relocated south of downtown and became the Mint Museum of Art, which was the first art museum in North Carolina.

All Charlotte Mint coins have the C mintmark on the reverse except for the first two years quarter and half eagles, which had them on the obverse between the truncation and the date.

The 1843-C Small Date Quarter Eagle is a rare coin in all grades. Only 70 to 80 1843-C Small Date Quarter Eagles are known to exist today. In its population report, NGC shows 15 1843-C Small Date Quarter Eagle in AU58 with 6 better. It is likely that the 15 is an inflated number because of resubmissions.