1843-D $2.50 NGC MS61

Small D mintmark variety. This lovely example has great eye appeal for a Dahlonega quarter eagle. It is semi-prooflike and shows very pleasing deep green-gold and reddish colors, in different configurations, on the obverse and reverse. The strike is very sharp with just a touch of weakness on the curl above the ear while the surfaces show a few scattered ticks in keeping with the assigned grade. This coin is nearly identical in appearance to Heritage 10/11: 4651, graded MS62 by PCGS, that brought $12,650. In fact, it is so similar that I did a double take when I bought it, thinking it might actually be the aforementioned example. As a date, the 1843-D is the most common quarter eagle from this mint. It is scarcer in Uncirculated than most people realize and nearly all of the fifteen to twenty known in Uncirculated grade in the MS60 to MS61 range. I have never seen an 1843-D that I grade MS63 and only three or four MS62's. An affordable yet special coin that would be perfect for a type collector seeking a single, special quarter eagle from Dahlonega.