1842-O Quarter Eagle - 1842-O $2.50 NGC AU58 CAC. This near-Mint State, Southern branch mint Classic Head 1842-O Quarter Eagle comes with a CAC sticker. The sticker indicates that the coin is of premium quality and well within the assigned grade range. The surfaces are original and clean for the grade. Quarter eagles of this date are often seen with weakly struck centers. That is not the case with this piece. Overall it is well struck with full details on the centers of the stars, the high points of Libertys hair, and the eagles neck. Significant amounts of mint luster remain in protected areas of both sides of the coin.

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 in the denomination touching the arrow feathers.

In 1826 Gobrecht did his first work for the Mint as an assistant to 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 silver coinage including the half-dime, dime, quarter dollar, half dollar and silver 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 New Orleans Mint was authorized in 1835 by President Andrew Jackson, hero of the battle of New Orleans. The bill that Jackson signed also authorized the mints at Charlotte and Dahlonega. William Strickland, a Philadelphia architect designed all three branch mint buildings. The New Orleans Mint building was made in the solid, bulky Greek Revival style of architecture. It was the largest of the three branch mints and located at major port of entry. Unfortunately Strickland did not account for the soft ground around the site. Because of it, the building had to undergo numerous repairs throughout its history.
Garrett and Guth in their Encyclopedia feel that the 1842-O quarter eagle is a rarer coin than the population numbers suggest. They believe that there have been multiple submissions of the same piece and the relatively high numbers in AU58 and Mint State are therefore exaggerated.

In its population report, NGC shows 22 1842-O quarter eagles in AU58 with 14 better. PCGS has 6 with 12 better. These numbers do not account for resubmissions and crossovers. At CAC, as of May 2012, the present coin is tied for finest with 2 others and none better.