Years
Designer
Christian Gobrecht
Composition
90% gold, 10% copper
Diameter
18 mm
Mass
4.18 g
Thickness
1.3 mm
Edge
Reeded
Mints
Philadelphia, Charlotte, Dahlonega, New Orleans, San Francisco
Metal
Gold
Design
Coroneted Liberty; reverse a heraldic eagle. The longest-running U.S. gold type in essentially unchanged form.
History
Gobrecht’s quarter eagle is the quiet gold coin of the 19th century — struck at Philadelphia, Charlotte, Dahlonega, New Orleans, and San Francisco. Southern branch-mint pieces are the romance: tiny gold from the first U.S. gold rushes, before California. 1848 CAL. quarter eagles, counterstamped with gold from Coloma, are the first U.S. commemorative coins in spirit. The type yielded to Pratt’s incuse Indian in 1908.
Key dates
234 issues