1854-D $2.50 (1854-D Quarter Eagle) NGC MS61. Here is a rare, pre-Civil War, Southern branch mint, mint state 1854-D Quarter Eagle that comes with the Ashland City Collection provenance and is tied for second finest at NGC. The coin shows bright mint luster in protected areas of both sides. The strike is above average with full details on the obverse stars and the eagles feathers. Unlike most coins of this date and mint, the numerals of the date and the dentils are strong. No wear is seen, as expected for a mint state coin, and the surfaces are, for the grade, original, clean, and free of individual distractions worthy of mention. There is an area of raised die lines under and to the left of the date. These are typical and can be used to authenticate the piece.

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 above the fraction, embedded in the stem of the olive branch.

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.

The discovery of gold on Cherokee land in Georgia caused a large group of miners to come to the frontier town of Auraria, which is now Lumpkin County, Georgia. Its name derives from aurum, the Latin word for gold. Soon Dahlonega, which meant yellow money in Cherokee, would become the county seat. The miners need to convert oar and dust into bullion led to the establishment of private coiners, including the Bechtlers and Templeton Reid; however, because of a lack of standardization, there was pressure for a federal coinage to be created. The federal branch mint at Dahlonega was established to meet this need.

A building was erected in the town of Dahlonega. Power for its coining equipment came from steam produced in a boiler in the basement. Two small steam driven presses were on the first floor just above the boiler room. They could produce one coin per second. Because of the small size of the presses, the largest coins produced were half eagles.

On April 21, 1838 the Dahlonega Mint produced its first coinage, 80 half eagles. In that year 20,583 half eagles were minted in Dahlonega. The first quarter eagle was made the next year in February.

The mint worked as a refinery for gold deposits. People would bring in dust, nuggets, bars, and foreign coins. They would then be refined to establish their value. Silver that naturally occurred in the Georgia gold was not removed from the oar because the gold was more pure than the standard 90% fine. After the gold was coined, it could be picked up by the depositor.

Most of the gold deposited at Dahlonega took place in the 1840s. The discovery of gold in California brought in deposits of new gold; however, in 1854 the San Francisco Mint opened, and the California gold that had been deposited in Georgia diminished. In January of 1861, Georgia seceded from the Union. Coins produced later in that year were made for the Confederacy. Since the same dies were used when the Mint was in Federal control, the coinage produced cannot be distinguished today. After the mint closed in June, it became a Confederate assay office for the rest of the Civil War.

All Dahlonega gold coins bear the D mintmark. Denominations made by the Dahlonega Mint were gold dollars (1849-1861), a three dollar gold coin (1854), quarter eagles (1839-1859 except for 1858), and half eagles (1838-1861).

The 1854-D had a tiny mintage of 1,760 making it fundamentally rare in all conditions. It is also the third rarest of the twenty Dahlonega quarter eagles. Only 70 to 90 are known in all conditions. In its population report, NGC shows 3 in MS61 with 1 better. At PCGS there are 2 in MS61 with 3 better, and these numbers do not account for crossovers and resubmissions.