1844-C $2.50 (1844-C Quarter Eagle) NGC MS62. This rare, Southern branch mint 1844-C Quarter Eagle is tied for the finest known at NGC. The coin shows original, muted mint luster in protected areas on both sides. No wear is seen, as expected for a mint state coin. The obverse strike is far stronger than expected. Coins of this date and mint are usually weak. Yet on this piece, the stars show full details and Libertys hair is almost fully struck too.

Christian Gobrechts quarter eagle 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 embedded in the arrows above the fraction.
Christian Gobrecht became the third Chief Engraver at the United States Mint. He was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania in 1785. His father was a German immigrant, and his mother traced her ancestry to the early settlers of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Gobrecht married Mary Hewes in 1818. One of his early positions was as an engraver of clocks in Baltimore.

Later he went to Philadelphia where he became a banknote engraver. He invented a machine that allowed one to convert a three-dimensional medal into an illustration. This was an excellent job and Gobrecht was understandably reluctant to work for the Mint for less money than he was making at the engraving firm. In order to persuade him to leave, Mint Director Robert Patterson prevailed upon Chief Engraver William Kneass, who had had a stroke, to take less in salary so more money would be available to hire Gobrecht on a permanent basis. In 1826 Gobrecht did his first work for the Mint as an assistant to Kneass. After Kneass stroke, Gobrecht did all the die and pattern work for the Mint. He 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 sliver coinage including the half dime, dime, quarter dollar, half dollar, and sliver 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.

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 at the Charlotte Mint. 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.

A total of over five million dollars in gold coinage was made at the Charlotte Mint. During its twenty-three years of operation, three denominations of gold coins were made. The gold dollar was made from 1849-1853 and in 1855, 1857, and 1859. The quarter eagle was made from 1838-1844 and from 1846-1852, and in 1858, and 1860. The half eagle was made from 1838-1844 and 1846-1861. Unlike the mint at Dahlonega, no record exits of Charlotte making three dollar gold coins. In total there are 51 Charlotte gold issues most of which have small mintages.

All Charlotte gold coins are scarce. Much of it is rare, and some is extremely rare because of a combination of low mintages and melting overseas. Many coins that were minted before the Civil War were used to purchase armaments abroad. Much of this coinage was melted in Europe to make coins of the realm. Only a tiny fraction of the C mint coinage survives today. One example is the Open Wreath Gold Dollar of 1849-C. This issue is so rare that it was one of the few missing in the Louis Eliasberg gold collection.

With an original mintage of 11,622, the 1844-C quarter eagle is scarce in all grades. In mint state it is rare. In its population report, NGC shows this piece tied with 4 others in MS62 with none better. At PCGS there are 2 in MS62 with 1 better, and these numbers do not account for crossovers and resubmissions.