1843-D $2.50 Small D (1843-D Quarter Eagle Small D) NGC XF45. This lightly circulated Southern branch mint 1843-D Quarter Eagle shows traces of mint luster within its devices. For the grade, the surfaces are clean except for a few bag marks in the reverse field. There is light wear on the top of Libertys head and the hair just below the L. The top of the coronet also shows wear. Small amounts of wear are also seen on the eagles neck and wing tips. The wear seen on this coin is consistent with the grade assigned.

The strike is unusually strong on the reverse and shows the typical central weakness on the obverse. The discovery of gold in the early 1800s led to the establishment of two of the Southern branch Mints, Charlotte North Carolina and Dahlonega Georgia. In 1835 an act of Congress mandated that these two branch mints would coin only gold. The New Orleans Mint also opened to handle gold from Mexico. In 1838 the first Dahlonega gold coins were made, and they were the Classic Head Half Eagle type. Because of the local alloys high silver content, they often have a green-gold cast. Dahlonega gold coins are also often weakly struck on irregular planchets. They are eagerly sought by collectors and investors because of their low mintages and rarity. Modern D mint coins should not be confused with Dahlonega coins. Today a coin bearing the D mintmark was minted in Denver, which began production in 1906.

On April 21, 1838 the Dahlonega Mint produced its first coinage, 80 half eagles. In that year 20,583 half eagles were minted in Dahlonega. The first quarter eagle was made the next year in February.