1834-39 QUARTER EAGLE
CLASSIC HEAD LIBERTY

Image courtesy of Heritage Numismatic Auctions

This historical information is provided complements of NGC (Numismatic Guarantee Corporation). NGC is the "grading service of choice" of the ANA (American Numismatic Association), the largest collector oriented organization in the United States. NGC is one of the two largest independent grading services. NGC has been grading coins since 1987, and have graded in excess of two and one half million coins.

By the 1830s, melting of U.S. gold coins in Europe had reached fever pitch. National Archives records document one 1831 episode in Paris, describing the destruction of 40,000 half eagles in a single melt. U.S. gold coins, which had never been in wide circulation since the Mint's early years, virtually disappeared.

The problem of a coinage that didn't circulate plagued the Mint since the turn of the century, and was rooted in the Coinage Act of 1792. Shortly after Congress established a bimetallic system with a fixed ratio of 15:1 for silver to gold, the wars in Europe pushed up the world price of gold right along with Napoleon's fortunes. Speculators and bullion brokers began to buy U.S. gold coins, exporting them for large profits. During the War of 1812, the "unofficial" ratio continued to widen, and later, expanded more with the tremendous output of Mexican and South American silver mines. Except for half dollars, most of which sat as bank reserves, U.S. coins were nowhere to be found. Commerce was left to function with an assortment of Spanish reals, "wildcat" banknotes and fractional currency.

Lacking a solution, Congress ignored the problem for decades, but actually their choices were limited. Constantly adjusting the metal content of the coins as prices fluctuated was not an option, as coins of varying weights could not compete. Heavier coins would be melted and lighter ones spent. Lowering the amount of gold in the coins was also proposed, but always rejected as debasing the coinage. By 1829, the steady drain of gold from the nation and the deplorable currency situation finally forced Congress to begin serious work on reform. A number of bills were introduced, with proposals ranging from scrapping the bimetallic system in favor of a silver standard, to a dual-subsidiary system with heavily debased coins. Debate was extended and often bitter, and everyone from Treasury officials to Southern gold mining interests were heard. All saw the need for a viable, circulating coinage, but few agreed on the means to reach the goal. After four years, a compromise was struck, one that certainly benefitted the mine owners but also the country and commerce as a whole. Although the bill debased gold coinage by approximately 6% and effectively put the U.S. on a gold standard, it was a major success in achieving its objective: Gold coins were back in circulation again.

At the time of the Act of 1834's passage, only two gold denominations Gobrecht's new Coronet Head was adopted for the quarter eagle. First used on the eagle in 1838 and the half eagle in 1839, it would remain on U.S. gold through 1907, when it was replaced by Augustus Saint Gauden's Indian Head motif.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Diameter: 18.2 millimeters
Weight: 4.18 grams
Composition: .8992 gold, .1008 copper
Edge: Reeded
Net Weight: .12084 ounce pure gold

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Akers, David W., United States Gold Coins, Volume II, Quarter Eagles 1796-1929, Paramount Publications, Englewood, OH, 1975.

Breen, Walter, Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, F.C.I. Doubleday, New York, 1988.

Carothers, Neil, Fractional Money, A History of Small Coins and Fractional Paper Currency of the United States, John Wiley & Sons, London, 1930.

Metcalf, William E. America's Gold Coinage Metallic Panaceas: Gold Bugs, Silver Crusaders, and the Wizard of Oz by Walter Breen, ANS, New York, 1990.

Taxay, Don, The U.S. Mint and Coinage, Arco Publishing Co., New York, 1966.

Winter, Douglas, Charlotte Mint Gold Coins 1838-1861, Bowers and Merena Galleries, Wolfeboro, NH, 1987.

Winter, Douglas, New Orleans Mint Gold Coins 1839-1909, Bowers and Merena Galleries, Wolfeboro, NH, 1992.