The 1850-O quarter eagle is comparable in overall rarity to the 1851-O and 1852-O. As with these other dates (and most all quarter eagles from this mint, except for the 1843-O Small Date), this issue is very scarce in the lower Uncirculated grades and extremely rare in MS63 and above. There are exactly two graded in MS64: a PCGS coin which I have not seen since 2001 and this example which has been off the market since the late 1990′s.

I believe that this is the single finest 1850-O quarter eagle known to exist and it is certainly the best that I have handled. It has luxuriant, thick frosty luster with superb natural orange-gold color. The strike is slightly flat at the centers and there are some scattered scuffson the obverse but this coin has a virtual Gem “look” and it is like no other 1850-O of which I am aware.

An inferior quality MS64 example of the 1842-O quarter eagle just brought close to $45,000 in a Teletrade auction. While the 1842-O is a rarer date than the 1850-O, the present example is, in my opinion, a nicer coin and it seems like excellent value for the New Orleans gold collector who seeks the very finest quality for his set.

Ex 1999 ANA: 7852, where it went unsold and later traded hands via private treaty. This is its first appearance since then.