Class Head Gold Collection, Part 19, 1839-O Quarter Eagle
BillJones
Posts: 34,820 ✭✭✭✭✭
Mintage 17,781
Estimated Number of Survivors 400
The 1839-O quarter eagle is first gold coin that the New Orleans Mint issued. With an estimated 400 survivors, it is a tough coin, but it has never gained as much respect as the Charlotte and Dahlonega pieces.
This issue is generally well made although the “O Mint” didn’t quite get everything right for some of the mintage. For this piece, and a number of others, The mint employees misaligned the dies in the coin press so that the heads and tails sides of the coin are rotated 180 degrees. In other words if the piece is rotated on its horizonal axis, the eagle on the reverse is upside down instead of right-side up as it normally is with coin strikes.
The piece displayed above, which is graded PCGS AU-58,CAC, is above average for the grade. It might make it into a Mint State holder if it were to be re-submitted, but there is a little too much dullness in the reverse fields to make that grade in my opinion. Given that the AU-58+ grade is now in use, that would be my grade.
I bought this piece from Rob Weiner, who is one of my old Boston friends. Rob goes to the major shows to buy coins for other dealers. He's done this for years and has a great eye. He actually recommended that I buy this piece to my wife, whcih helped with the sale.
This piece is as nice as most any Classic Head quarter eagle that has found its way into an MS-62 holder. There is a slight hint of a rub in the reverse field above the eagle's head. In way I am surprised that this piece did not get a gold CAC. It is in an Old Green Label holder.
That's it ... This is #19. So as Porky Pig would say.
A-Bee-Dah, A-Bee Dah, A-Bee-Dah, That's All Folks!!!!!
Comments
Excellent piece!
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Great job BillJones with all of this information on Classic Head Gold. Thank you for taking the time to post it all.
The 1839-O coinage consists of two die marriages from two obverse and two reverse dies. They are referred to as the High (date) and Wide (fraction) and the Low (date) and Close (fraction). The OP coin is a Low date towards the denticles, and Close fraction where the denominator touches the vinculum and the numerator nearly so.
These two die marriages are easily distinguished and should be recognized, as should several other die marriages in the Classic Head Gold series.
BillJones points out that some of the 1839-Os are noted to have medallic alignment. Here is an observation not yet published about the 1839-O. ALL Low and Close die marriages are in medallic alignment. Something that can probably be explained through archival research, which is my current project.
Thanks for sharing. Beautiful coin. I never get tired of reading your posts.
That is a real beauty Bill and thanks for the supporting information. Cheers, RickO
@BillJones Great threads. Thanks for taking the time to do this. Never realized how scarce these coin really are. Very few survivors, especially in higher grades.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
The "Coin Facts" survival numbers might be a bit conservative overall, but the strictly Mint State coins are really scarce, regardless of the date and mintmark,
Great collection and great posts. Thank you.
Beautiful coin and great knowledge.
Thanks for taking the time to share both!
1947-P & D; 1948-D; 1949-P & S; 1950-D & S; and 1952-S.
Any help locating any of these OBW rolls would be gratefully appreciated!
very pretty coin. you mentioned you are surprised it did not get a gold CAC. One reason so few mint state gold coins are stickered (relatively speaking) is that CAC generally does not sticker MS gold coins that have signs of wear or friction. Sounds like CAC got it right and beaned this coin with a green sticker
Thanks Mr Jones for taking the time to do these write-ups and for sharing your collection. I just read all 19 and I thoroughly enjoyed them all. I always learn something from your posts!
1844-O quarter also comes with medal alignment.
And the 1844-O half dime.
I sense a theme here.
Were there any other denominations in 1838 or 1839 minted in New Orleans with medal alignment?