Reich’s Capped Head Proof Quarter Eagle (1821-1834): In 1808 John Reich designed a capped draped bust quarter eagle. This one-year type is extremely rare and there was no proof mintage. However, in 1821 Robert Scot, despite advanced age and failing eyesight, designed a quarter eagle, which resembles Reich’s earlier design.

The new Liberty faces left wearing a smaller Phrygian cap inscribed with LIBERTY. She is surrounded by thirteen stars with the date below. Because the effigy is truncated at the neck, the head is larger than on the previous issue. Also the stars form a complete arc above Liberty, unlike the 1808 design where the cap interrupted them. The reverse is similar to the 1808 issue. It shows a heraldic eagle facing left holding arrows and an olive branch in its talons. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is interrupted by the wing tips and arcs above. The denomination 2½ D. is below. The motto E PLURIBUS UNUM is on a ribbon that arcs from one wing tip to the other. Dentils are near the edge on both sides of the coin.

In 1823 Robert Scot died, and the Mint hired William Kneass to take his place. Kneass was a bank-note engraver. He was hired to improve the existing designs of all coinage series. In 1829 he did this for the quarter eagle. The new design had smaller stars, smaller letters, a redrawn Liberty, and a redrawn eagle. It also had a high, plain raised rim because of the use of a closed collar. The new collar imparted a reeded edge and gave the coins a standard diameter.

Although the Red Book, A Guide Book of United States Coins, lists no proof coins for the Capped Head quarter eagle, they were made in each year. All are prohibitively rare. Few survived without being impaired. Most likely many were spent during the “Hard Times” of 1837 to 1844. The total proof mintage is estimated to be fewer than 150 coins.

The census reports of both major grading services show the following population numbers for proof coins: 1821 (6), 1822 to 1830 none, 1831 (5), 1832 none, 1833 (3), and 1834 none. These numbers may be even smaller because of resubmissions and crossovers.

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Kneass’ Proof Quarter Eagle 1834 to 1839: William Kneass designed the quarter eagle known as the Classic Head. The obverse is similar to the Large Cents of 1808 to 1814. Liberty faces left, her hair loosely tied with a band on which is inscribed LIBERTY. She is surrounded by thirteen stars with the date below. The reverse shows a heraldic eagle similar to the previous Capped Bust issue. Dentils surround the designs of both sides of the coin.

The weight, fineness, and size were reduced from the previous issue because old gold coins were going to bullion dealers who shipped them out for melting. The essential visual difference is that the banner with E PLURIBUS UNUM has been omitted. This change was made so the new coins would be immediately identified.

On January 29, 1824 William Kneass was appointed Chief Engraver of the United States Mint. Before his appointment, he had a careed as a book illustrator doing engravings. He died in 1840, and Christian Gobrecht, who had been his assistant, became the Engraver.

In 1835 the portrait of Liberty was made taller than before. In the following year there were three different varieties, the head that was used in 1834, the redesigned one of 1835, and a new one that would be used again in 1837. In 1838 the head was slightly modified again.

No proof issues are listed in the Red Book A Guide Book of United States Coins for the Kneass quarter eagles. However, researchers have identified approximately 50 for the entire series. Both major grading services show a combined total of 30 proof coins, and this number does not account for resubmissions and crossovers. Needless to say, any proof quarter eagle of this type is an extremely rare coin.

The dates and quantities that have been certified by both services are as follows: 1834 (12), 1835 (2), 1836 (7), 1836 [head of 1835] (2), 1837 (1), 1838 none, 1839 (3).

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Gobrecht's Proof Quarter Eagles 1840-1907: Christian Gobrecht's Quarter Eagle was produced without substantial modification from 1840 to 1907, the longest span in any United States coinage series. It uses the Coronet design which shows Liberty facing left, her hair tied tightly in beads, except for two curls one down the back of her neck and the other on the side below her ear, with LIBERTY inscribed on the coronet. She is surrounded by thirteen stars, and the date is below the truncation. The reverse shows the heraldic eagle facing left holding arrows and olive branch it its talons. The inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA arcs around it, interrupted by the wing tips, and the denomination 2 ½ D. is below. The denomination is separated from the legend with dots. The weight remained the same, but the diameter was reduced from the previous issue to 18 millimeters.

The coinage act of 1865 specified that motto IN GOD WE TRUST should be added to all coins large enough to accommodate it. The Mint interpreted this law to mean that the motto had to be added to silver coins larger than the dime and gold half eagles, eagles and double eagles. Because of its size, the quarter eagle was exempt.

Beginning in 1859 a modified reverse design was used on business strike and proof Philadelphia coins. It had smaller letters and arrowheads. Some pieces in 1859, 60, and 61 were struck with the old design after the change was made.

As an anti-counterfeiting device, these coins were completely hubbed except for the date and mint mark. The dates were entered by hand. In 1873 a new 3 was used because the old one was the “closed 3” and was easily mistaken for an 8.

In 1848 an excess of gold came from California to Philadelphia for coinage. Coins from this gold deposit were struck with the abbreviation CAL on the reverse above the eagle. Proofs are extremely rare. Forgeries have been made by privately punching CAL into regular 1848’s. Some proof-like pieces have been sold as proofs. Three proofs are said to have been in the Longacre estate; although, NGC and PGCS have none reported.

The Red Book, A Guide Book of United States Coins, lists no proof coins until 1859. Yet the grading services have 41 listed. Of course, this number probably contains duplication because of resubmissions and crossovers. The first year, 1840, had 1 listed. The most in these early years was in 1841 with 15. Both 1842 and 1847 had none listed. For the next decade, the proof mintage numbers ranged from 25 to 112, the grading services show 8 to 30 reported. The proof coins of 1863, with a combined population 12, are exceedingly rare because it is a proof only year and no business strikes were made. (Forgeries of the 1863 proof coin were made by altering the 8 of an 1868 or by removing the mint mark from a 1863-S.) The mintage numbers remain low in the 70’s but climb to a high of 349 in 1900, after which they taper off to 154 for the last year. The population reports show 10 to 30 coins for the decade of the 70’s. For the 80’s the populations range from 28 to 66. The 90’s show 42 to 220, and the Twentieth Century dates show 94 to 349.

Examples of eighties proof are the 1885 and 1898. The original mintage for 1885 was 87. NGC reports 23 in all grades and PGCS shows 18. For 1898 there was a mintage of 165. NGC reported 91 proofs in all grades.

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Pratt’s Indian Head Proof Quarter Eagles 1908-1929: Bela Lyon Pratt, a student of Augustus Saint-Gaudens designed this coin and the similar half eagle. They were different from what had preceded in that the designs were incused. The background of the prior issues had become the foreground. The design was sunk into the field and shown in relief. The design was not popular with the public. As soon as they were issued, objections were made. It was said that the incused features would retain dirt and the coins would be unsanitary. They were also too easily counterfeited and couldn’t be stacked, and the design was not natural.

In 1905 William Bigelow, an art connoisseur and friend of President Theodore Roosevelt, was sent to evaluate a large art collection that was donated to the government. Following this project, Roosevelt sought Bigelow’s advice on coinage designs. Bigelow commissioned his friend Bela Lyon Pratt to make the new coins. Pratt had studied under Saint-Gaudens and was also his assistant. In 1890, at the suggestion of Saint-Gaudens, he went to study in Paris at the Ecole des Beau Arts, where he received many awards for his work. In 1893 he returned to America where he sculpted for the Columbian Exposition. Later he became an instructor at the Boston Museum School.

His works include a medal for Harvard President Eliot, a bicentennial medal for Yale University, a figure for the Sears Monument in Cambridge, and many other sculptures, busts, and medals. At the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915, he had an exhibit of seventeen pieces that won a gold medal.

The quarter eagle design was similar to his half eagle. He chose an authentic looking Native American head in profile looking left wearing a realistic headdress. Above is the word LIBERTY and below is the date. Six stars are on the left and seven are on the right. The reverse, in homage to Saint-Gaudens, shows the standing eagle facing left. Below it are arrows and an olive branch. E PLURIBUS UNUM is in the left field and IN GOD WE TRUST is in the right. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, separated by dots, arcs above the eagle, and the denomination 2 ½ DOLLARS is below. The mint mark on the reverse was the highest point and it showed wear first.

The Pratt quarter eagles were issued from 1908 to 1915 and from 1925 to 1929; however, no proofs were minted in the years 1925 to 1929. In total 1,827 proof coins of this design were issued from 1908 to 1915. Both major grading services show a combined total of 1001 proof coins for all dates. In 1908 236 matte proof coins were made. Although not very popular, many were probably saved because of the newness of the design. The combined total of both grading services shows 220 for the first date. In 1909 139 were minted and 80 are reported by NGC and PGCS. The largest proof mintage was 682 in 1910. Of that number only 170 have been reported. In 1912 197 were minted. Of those, 83 have been reported. In 1913 165 were minted. Of those, 90 have been reported. The next to last year, 1914, was also the next to smallest mintage with 117. The grading services reported 117 for that year. The last year was the smallest mintage. With 100 coins minted only 74 have been reported by both services. It is important to note that these numbers are probably lower because of duplication caused by resubmission.

Specifications: Edge: Reeded Weight: 4.18 grams (64.5 grains) (.1344 troy ounces) Diameter: 18 millimeters Composition: 90% gold, 10% copper Gold Content: 3.762 grams (58.049 grains) (.1209 troy ounces)