1911-D $2 1/2 MS65 NGC. The Denver Mint found its production capacity pulled in many different directions in 1911. Double eagles were in high demand, and the Colorado facility struck its first cents, amounting to an eight-figure sum, in that year. Dimes, too, rolled off the presses in quantity. For the other denominations, however, there was comparatively little demand. Each of the lower-value gold coins for that date and mint are among the keys to their respective series, with the 1911-D quarter eagle as the best-known example of this phenomenon.
The 1911-D's status has been documented thoroughly for decades. Perhaps the most illustrative and eloquent commentary on the date came from Paul M. Green, who discussed it in a Numismatic News article dated September 17, 1996. He wrote that its mintage made it " ... far and away the lowest production date of the type. It had not become any more common over the years. It always has, and always will be the key date in the Indian Head quarter eagle set."