Duke’s Creek Collection pedigree.

The 1851-D is the seventh rarest of 20 quarter eagles from this mint. There are an estimated 100-125 known with most in the EF40 to AU50 range. In Uncirculated, this date is extremely rare with just four or five known. The present example is, of course, the finest known 1851-D and a strong case can be made for calling it the single finest Dahlonega quarter eagle of any date.

While sometimes available in MS63 grades, Dahlonega quarter eagles are incredibly rare in MS64 and higher. In Gem, they are essentially unattainable. PCGS has never graded a Dahlonega quarter eagle in MS65; NGC has graded three quarter eagles from this mint in MS65: two 1847-D’s and this one 1851-D. Of the three coins, two are from the Duke’s Creek collection and one is ex Bass and, in my opinion, is more righfully regarded as a nice MS64. So, what this means is that there are two real Gems known for the entire series. Think of that fact for a second: 20 issues made from 1839 to 1859, hundreds of thousands of coins struck and thousands known to exist but only two Dahlonega quarter eagles which are Gems by today’s standards. That’s impressive!

This is a simply amazing coins in all respects. It has the best luster that I have ever seen on a quarter eagle from this mint with an exceptional thick, frosty texture which lies below rich natural orange-gold color which changes to a greenish hue towards the borders. The strike is sharper than on any other 1851-D quarter eagle which I have seen and the surfaces are immaculate with just a few patches of die polishing seen in the fields. If you didn’t see this coin in person, you’d feel that it didn’t exist; it is that nice.

This coin has been off the market since it sold at auction in 2006 and it has had just a handful of owners since it first came on the market in the 1940′s. If you are a serious collector of Dahlonega gold coins or if you just want to own a piece that is clearly the “best off the best” than this is a piece that clearly deserves strong consideration.

Ex Heritage 4/06: 1508 ($63,250), Duke’s Creek collection, George Elliott collection, Bowers and Ruddy 10/82: 158 ($6,325), Eliasberg collection, Mehl 2/44, Beldon Roach collection.