The 1845-O is, by far, the rarest quarter eagle from this mint. It has an original mintage of just 4,000 and of the 100 or so which remain, most are in the VF-EF range. The 1845-O is scarce in properly graded AU50, rare in AU55 and very rare in AU58. There are just three known in Uncirculated (all of which I have sold) of which the finest is the PCGS MS63 from the Brand collection.

This is one of the two or three most perfect AU examples of this date which I have seen. It is original with nice medium green-gold color outstanding satiny luster. This date is not often seen with “flash” and the appearance on this piece is a bit subdued but I mean this in a good way as it shows that the coin hasn’t been dipped or processed. The fields are free of marks and lack the mint-made “strips” in the fields that are mint-made and seen onmost 1845-O quarter eagles. There is just a small amount of rub on the high spots and the eye appeal is exceptional for the date.

The last AU58 example of this date to sell at auction was a non-CAC NGC coin, offered as Heritage 2/10: 1458 which sold for $10,350. In the Heritage 2/12 sale, I purchased a PCGS MS61 1845-O quarter eagle for $29,900 and quickly sold it to a collector.

With all three of the Uncirculated examples tied-up in tightly-held collections, it is unlikely that the serious collector will get a chance to own a Mint State 1845-O quarter eagle. For all intents and purposes the present example is the finest available and it is certainly among the nicest pieces which I have handled in some time.

CAC has approved just two examples in AU58 with none finer than this.