Quarter Eagle Gold Coins
The gold quarter eagle, value $2.50 face value, was approved by the Mint Act of April 2, 1792, although the first coins of this denomination didn’t appear until 1796. In a bit of an odd twist, nowhere on the coin is the face value denoted.
The first gold quarter eagle was the Capped Bust to Right kind of 1796-1807. The obverse reveals Liberty sporting a head turban modern with girls of the late 18th century. For a very long time, the turban was incorrectly thought by many to be a liberty cap derived from ancient Rome, as was the case with other 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 this reason, numismatists also call this the Turban Head type. An instance is seen immediately below.
Less than 20,000 Turban Head Quarter Eagles have been minted. Tensions between the U.S. and Europe throughout the 1790s and early 1800s drove European gold costs higher. Bullion dealers exploited this situation by acquiring American gold coinage in trade for relatively cheap Mexican silver and exporting it to abroad melting pots at a substantial profit. The risk of rapid doom vastly curtailed manufacturing of all U.S. gold cash through the earliest years beneath the Constitution.
The Mint employed John Reich as Assistant Engraver in 1807. Reich was a highly reputed German die sinker who arrived in the United States as an indentured servant in 1801. After six years of failing to safe everlasting employment on the Mint because of inner politics (apparently, no one needed to offend the sensibilities of Chief Engraver Robert Scot), Reich started making plans to return to Germany. Through the intervention of President Thomas Jefferson, the assistant’s place was created for Reich to retain his talent.
Reich instantly got down to improve the appearance of United States coinage, together with a brand new gold quarter eagle, released in 1808. Reich depicted Miss Liberty facing left, wearing a mobcap decorated with the phrase LIBERTY. The Capped Bust to Left, generally often known as the Capped Draped type, featured a considerably life like eagle extending its wings sitting atop an olive branch, whereas holding arrows suggesting drive, if needed, to defend itself. Reich’s eagle reverse would stay a fixture on U.S. coinage for the following 100 years.
The Capped Bust to Left Quarter Eagle was in manufacturing for the yr 1808 only. A single set of 1808 dies were made, and numismatists theorize it broke after only 2710 items had been made. Thereafter, quarter eagle gold coinage was suspended due to the continued menace posed by international bullion dealers.
Quarter eagle manufacturing resumed in 1821. Although gold coinage still had bother remaining in circulation because of its excessive intrinsic steel value, several banks deposited gold bullion from Mexico and requested quarter eagles in return under the Mint’s “Free Coinage” policy. Reich resigned from the Mint in 1817 in disgust over his stagnated salary of $50/month, so the responsibility of resurrecting the quarter eagle fell to Robert Scot.
Scot’s Capped Head to Left kind was nothing greater than a barely modified model of Reich’s 1808 design. At age 77 and with failing eyesight, Scot was in all probability not up to the task of originating a new design from scratch. Essentially the most noticeable distinction was a 1.5 mm (.059 inches) lower in diameter. The load remained constant, so the 1821 quarter eagle edition was thicker than its predecessors. In 1829, the diameter was diminished by one other .three mm. The Capped Head to Left was minted in small numbers nearly yearly till 1834, however never gained a foothold in American society as a result of its gold content material was worth more than its face worth, making it subject to exportation and melting.
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