1844-C Quarter Eagle - 1844-C $2.50 PCGS XF40. The 1844-C Quarter Eagle was a poorly manufactured coin. The present piece is no exception. All coins of this denomination, date, and mint are weakly struck with feather details especially so. The coin shows slight wear on top of Libertys head, hair, and the top of the coronet, in keeping with the grade. The surfaces are original, clean, and smooth with no notable individual abrasion marks. Traces of mint luster remain within the devices on both sides giving the coin its attractive look.

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.

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 1844-C Quarter Eagle is scarce in all grades. In it population report, PCGS shows 16 in XF40 condition with 63 better.