The gold quarter eagle, worth $2.50 face value, was approved by the Mint Act of April 2, 1792, though the first coins of this denomination didn’t seem until 1796. In a little bit of an odd twist, nowhere on the coin is the face value denoted.

The first gold quarter eagle was the Capped Bust to Proper kind of 1796-1807. The obverse shows Liberty carrying a head turban fashionable with ladies of the late 18th century. For a long time, the turban was incorrectly thought by many to be a liberty cap derived from ancient Rome, as was the case with different United States coinage. Analysis later uncovered the 1825 writings of Mint Director Samuel Moore, who verified the true nature of Liberty’s head attire. For that reason, numismatists additionally name this the Turban Head type. An example is seen instantly below.

Less than 20,000 Turban Head Quarter Eagles have been minted. Tensions between the U.S. and Europe all through the 1790s and early 1800s drove European gold costs higher. Bullion dealers exploited this situation by acquiring American gold coinage in alternate for relatively low cost Mexican silver and exporting it to abroad melting pots at a substantial profit. The chance of rapid doom greatly curtailed manufacturing of all U.S. gold coins through the earliest years below the Constitution.

The Mint employed John Reich as Assistant Engraver in 1807. Reich was a highly reputed German die sinker who arrived within the United States as an indentured servant in 1801. After six years of failing to safe permanent employment on the Mint due to internal politics (apparently, no one needed to offend the sensibilities of Chief Engraver Robert Scot), Reich began planning to return to Germany. By the intervention of President Thomas Jefferson, the assistant’s place was created for Reich to retain his talent.

Reich instantly set out to upgrade the appearance of United States coinage, including a new gold quarter eagle, released in 1808. Reich depicted Miss Liberty going through left, wearing a mobcap embellished with the word LIBERTY. The Capped Bust to Left, sometimes often called the Capped Draped kind, featured a somewhat realistic eagle extending its wings sitting atop an olive branch, while holding arrows suggesting power, if obligatory, to defend itself. Reich’s eagle reverse would stay a fixture on U.S. coinage for the next one hundred years.

The Capped Bust to Left Quarter Eagle was in manufacturing for the year 1808 only. A single set of 1808 dies had been made, and numismatists theorize it broke after only 2710 pieces had been made. Thereafter, quarter eagle gold coinage was suspended because of the continued threat posed by international bullion dealers.

Quarter eagle production resumed in 1821. Though gold coinage still had trouble remaining in circulation because of its high intrinsic metallic value, a number of banks deposited gold bullion from Mexico and requested quarter eagles in return below the Mint’s “Free Coinage” policy. Reich resigned from the Mint in 1817 in disgust over his stagnated salary of $50/month, so the duty of resurrecting the quarter eagle fell to Robert Scot.

Scot’s Capped Head to Left sort was nothing greater than a barely modified version of Reich’s 1808 design. At age 77 and with failing eyesight, Scot was most likely lower than the duty of originating a brand new design from scratch. Probably the most noticeable distinction was a 1.5 mm (.059 inches) lower in diameter. The burden remained constant, so the 1821 quarter eagle edition was thicker than its predecessors. In 1829, the diameter was decreased by another .three mm. The Capped Head to Left was minted in small numbers practically yearly till 1834, however never gained a foothold in American society because its gold content material was value greater than its face worth, making it topic to exportation and melting.

At Valueincoins.com find information on [1] 1929 quarter eagle, [2] 1914 quarter eagle, and [3] 1908 quarter eagle.