1845-O Quarter Eagle  - 1845-O $2.50 NGC AU53. This rare, Southern branch mint 1845-O Quarter Eagle has subdued mint luster within its devices. Like most branch mint coins struck before the Civil War, this 1845-O Quarter Eagle is lightly struck in areas. In this case the central portions of the coin, especially the reverse are weak, but the peripheral areas are strong. Light, even wear keeps this coin from a Mint State grade. The surfaces of this 1845-O Quarter Eagle are original and, aside from a small, light scratch from Libertys neck to Star 13, clean with no other individual marks worthy of note.

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 touches the arrow feathers and the fraction bar.

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 1826 Gobrecht did his first work for the Mint as an assistant to Engraver William Kneass. After Kneass suffered a debilitating 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.

Pre Civil War gold from the New Orleans Mint is rare because of low original mintages and low survival rates. The 1845-O Quarter Eagle had a mintage of 4,000 pieces. Only 80 to 100 1845-O Quarter Eagles are known to exist today in all grades. In its population report, NGC shows 8 1845-O Quarter Eagles in AU53 with 15 better. At PCGS there are 5 1845-O Quarter Eagles listed in AU53 with 8 better, and these numbers do not account for crossovers or resubmissions.