IMPORTANT PCGS MS62 1839-C QUARTER EAGLE, TIED FOR THE HIGHEST GRADED AT PCGS, ex Pogue collection.

Winter 3-C. Recut date variety (1839/39).

The 1839-C is one of just two Classic Head quarter eagles from Charlotte. It is more available than the popular first-year-of-issue 1838-C, but it is actually much scarcer in Uncirculated. I am aware of around three or four that are actually “new” and this is the second best PCGS graded one. The slightly more lustrous Bass coin sold for $48,000 as Heritage 4/2023: 3200. The single best 1839-C quarter eagle I have ever laid eyes on is the long-unseen Elrod NGC MS63.

Yellow-gold and pale green-gold color can be seen on both sides. These hues are a bit dark and they partially obscure the copious mint luster below. Despite multiple fatal cracks on the obverse and the reverse, the overall detail is surprisingly sharp. Some small marks are seen in the left obverse and above the right side of the bird’s head on the reverse.

This coin has the longest continued provenance for any 1839-C quarter eagle of which I am aware, dating all the way back to 1956; see below for more information.

Ex: Stack’s Bowers 9/2015: 2066 where it sold for $44,063, Brent Pogue Collection via Richard Burdick, Heritage 2/2009: 2431 where it sold for $32,200; Paul Dingler Collection via Douglas Winter Numismatics, Stack’s 6/1994: 567, New Netherlands 11/1956: 215, Judge Thomas Gaskill.

If it was good enough for Pogue, its good enough for you..

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