Variety 18-N.

The 1854-D is one of three low mintage rare Dahlonega quarter eagles from the 1850′s, along with the 1855-D and the 1856-D. The 1854-D has a mintage of just 1,760 and fewer than 100 are known, mostly in the EF40-AU50 grade range.

Housed in an older “no bar code” blue label holder, this piece seems to have the body and sharpness of today’s EF40. The color is a blend of golden-orange and russet with some deeper toning seen on the reverse. The surfaces are clean save for a thin, faint obverse scratch at the center; a die market above star twelve is mint-made as are the raised die scratches seen to the left of the date.

This date didn’t see much circulation and few exist in collector grades. There are no auction records for any 1854-D quarter eagle in the higher VF grades and the last EF40 was an NGC coin which brought $5,520 as Lot 1147 in DLRC’s Richmond I sale back in July 2004.

If you are collecting Dahlonega quarter eagles and are on a tight budget, this is likely to be the only chance you will have to buy a problem-free PCGS graded 1854-D for less than $6,000!