1827 Quarters - Old but still interesting article...

MrEureka

Very interesting article on 1827 quarters:

Link

My apologies to those that have seen this before.

joecheck

Awesome article! Simply facinating. A must read. Thanks!!!

Leiana

That was a very long yet very interesting article. I had always wondered where coins like that came from. Thanks for sharing!

-Amanda

Julian

I had read it before and recommend it. Karl's thesis is valid, IMHO.

denga

The Moulton article is interesting but the following should be borne in mind while reading it:

1. The claim that new dies were put into service immediately after Christmas each year does not bear scrutiny. In fact, the chief coiner and engraver did not care about the dates on coins prior to 1835, when Dr. Robert M. Patterson became director. There was an effort to use correctly-dated obverses but it was not an overriding concern.

2. The 4,000 quarter dollars delivered in December 1827 were almost certainly dated 1825 and it is likely that the 1825 date was used for several weeks into 1828.

3. The article claims that the 1827 coins were struck in a clandestine manner but this would have been pointless in 1827. In those days proof coins were normally made for collectors. It is also claimed that one of these 1827 quarter dollars was sent to the Treasury Secretary but this defies logic as coins were normally sent to the Treasury only when there was a significant design change requiring approval, as happened in 1831, for example.

4. The story that Mickley obtained the four 1827 quarters for a Spanish dollar makes perfect sense as the Mint sold such coins to collectors at face value, a practice which continued until 1859.

Denga