RARE 1821 QUARTER EAGLE

BD-1, R-5.

The 1821 is a scarce and numismatically significant issue as it is the first year of issue for the short-lived Capped Head Left/Large Planchet type which was made for only five years between 1821 and 1827. There were 6,448 quarter eagles made in 1821 but the survival rate is extremely low for this issue (and the entire type) with an estimated 50-60 known in total. There are not many “affordable” examples of the date or type as the 1821 appears to not have widely circulated.

This is a very conservatively graded coin which has enough luster and original skin to grade at least AU50. It is decently struck for the issue with very sharp detail seen on the obverse and some minor weakness at the central reverse. Both sides are covered with attractive natural golden-orange color which is deepest at the lower reverse. Both sides show a few wispy hairlines but no marks of note save for a small dig on the reverse below the left end of the ribbon.

No slabbed EF45 1821 quarter eagle from either service has ever sold at auction. In February 2013, Stack’s Bowers sold a PCGS EF40 (which showed far more wear than the present coin) for $12,925, while an NGC AU50 (which was stripped and overgraded) sold for $14,100 in the Heritage 9/2015 auction. The scarcity of the 1821 quarter eagle can best be illustrated by the fact that since 2016, only two examples (a PCGS MS62 and an NGC AU58) have traded via auction.

It is almost unheard of to locate a straight-graded example of this type for less than $20,000 and the few which are available are for the more common 1825.

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