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1838-C $2.50 Classic Head NGC AU58

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:5,500.00 USD Estimated At:11,000.00 - 14,000.00 USD
1838-C $2.50 Classic Head NGC AU58
A wonderful example of the first Charlotte Mint quarter eagle. Lustrous light polished-yellow gold sheen with typical color for this mint's early coinage and some prooflike effects. Though the surfaces are cleaned, there are only a few very minor abrasions, none serious. This example is unusually sharply struck with full hair details and sharp wing detail at the junction with the right shield. Possibly one of the most pleasing survivors from the mintage.

The lowest mintage of the Kneass quarter eagle type was registered by this first mintmark issue, the 1838-C, of which only 7,880 were struck. Today, this variety is very scarce in any grade and very rare at the About Uncirculated level. The mintmarked issues of the next year, 1839-C, 1839-D, and 1839-O, are all scarce, with the typically encountered grade being VF or, occasionally, EF. Any coin in AU or finer, in fact, from these important branch mints is a rarity. At the time, the numismatic community -- consisting of no more than a couple hundred widely scattered enthusiasts -- took no note of mintmarks, and not even the Mint Cabinet saved specimens. (#7697)