Class Head Gold Collection, Part 17, 1839-C Quarter Eagle

Mintage 18,140
Estimated Number of Survivors 250
The 1839-C quarter eagle is a bit more common than its more respected sister, the 1838-C, but it is still a popular coin. Most of the surviving examples fall into the VF to EF range of grades. AU coins are quite scarce and specialists believe that this coin is scarcer in Mint State than the 1838-C.
The coin displayed above offers some interesting insights into 19th century mintage practices. The “3”in the date was cut too low and then corrected. The “9” is double punched which might lead some to believe that this the 1839 over 8 variety which it is not. The dies on both sides are badly broken. On the obverse a die crack runs from the second to ninth star and down through Ms. Liberty’s bust to the date. On the reverse there is a semicircular crack that runs through the eagle’s beak and another long the bird’s left wing. Clearly this die pair was on its last legs.
This coin is graded AU-50, which is accurate. I have seen several 1839-C quarter eagles that have been badly cleaned which still received a straight grades from the third party graders. Perspective buyers should be vigilant.

I bought this piece in a Heritage Auction. Doug Winter almost makes it seem like this coin is "common," but it isn't, at least not in the current market.

I had hard time finding a decent example, although I did locate five coins that had been ruined by perhaps the same coin doctor. Every one of them had been shined up to the point whenre they looked like brass buttons. All of them were in NGC holders with grades that ranged from AU-58 to MS-62.

Why did you grade these coins, NGC? I don't know what was going through your collective heads. Why reward coin doctors who ruin coins?

The polishing didn't change the asking prices. All of them were full strapping retail.. Two the AU-58s were in one dealer's inventory. When they bought the second one after the first one had not sold for months, I had to ask they, "Why did you buy this?" Of course there was no answer. The second one had a big scratch on the reverse to add its problems. Asking price was the same as the price for the first.

This coin doctor issue really gulls me. Every one of those coins, that looked like brass buttons, had a lot of detail and were once good coins. Lightly circulated and Mint State coins do not look like brass buttons. They only get way because some "expert" wanted to shine them up for the less than perceptive potential customers.