1864 Quarter Eagle - With no business strikes
produced of the quarter eagle denomination at the Philadelphia
Mint in 1863, production was resumed again in 1864. The
total mintage was a miniscule 2,824 pieces, creating a true
rarity within the context of American coinage. Most were
apparently melted without leaving the building of the Mint,
further adding to the rarity of this specific issue. For
collectors, a limited number of proofs were produced as
well, generally considered to be 50 pieces. These are actually
more available than the business strikes, but remain to
be very rare and seldom available at auction in any grade.
The total mintage of business strikes was
divided between two different shipments, at the beginning
and the end of the year, with proofs produced at a different
date. The first shipment, with the limited number of 424
pieces, was released on February 25. The proofs had been
produced 2 weeks earlier, on February 11. Very late in the
year, on December 6, another batch of 2,400 pieces was released.
We are unsure what happened with these pieces, but circulation
of any of these must have been extremely limited. The Civil
War, which was by the time of the second batch nearing its
end, had ceased the circulation of all Federal gold, silver
and copper coins. As a result, if any of the 1864 quarter
eagles were intentionally released into circulation, it
must have been many years after their mintage.
Whatever happened to the 1864 quarter eagles,
they are true rarities in any grade. PCGS and NGC have combined
graded only a total of 16 examples, a number no doubt highly
influenced by resubmissions. In 1975, Akers, in his work
on the series estimated that only 7 or 8 quarter eagles
were known of this date, with no uncirculated examples reported.
A few more examples have turned up in recent times, but
less than a dozen are believed to be extant in all grades.
Some specialists consider 15 examples to be the correct
number, including cleaned and damaged pieces. Three of these
are graded in Mint State condition.
The most amazing example of this issue,
and in fact good contender of the whole series, is the coin
that came out of the Byron Reed collection. Graded by NGC
as MS-67, it is the absolute finest known and the coin is
completely original as well. It sold in 1996 for $132,000
and has been off the market since. Whenever that piece reappears
on the public market, it sure is attract a lot of attention
from quarter eagle and Civil War specialists. Numbers 2
and 3 on the condition census are both graded MS-61, one
by PCGS and the other by NGC. These are two different coins,
which both were sold in recent times, and are now locked
up in specialized collection. The PCGS coin is believed
to be the finer of the two, being completely original with
orange-gold toning.
In lesser grades, there are a few more pieces
known, with AU pieces rarely being available. In EF and
lower, even in damaged or cleaned condition every piece
should at least be considered, as the scarcity of this issue
results in very few auction appearances. In fact, the coins
that were made with proof finish outnumber the business
strikes, a rare scenario within the whole spectrum of American
coinage.
As previously mentioned only 50 proofs were
produced of this issue. In all proof grades, approximately
15 to 18 remain in all proof grades, slightly more than
generally considered to be the number of examples still
extant of the business strikes. In rarity terms, this issue
can be considered just as rare as the popular and famous
1863. However, no business strikes were produced of that
issue, creating a famous and rare proof-only quarter eagle.
Quality of these remaining proofs generally is very well.
Deep Cameo and Cameo pieces are generally available within
the rare offerings, often having great eye-appeal as well.
