The Civil War quarter eagles from the Philadelphia range from common (the 1861) to rare (the 1865) to extremely rare (the Proof-only 1863 and the 1864). This leaves the 1862 as a date for collectors to aspire to own. Of the 98,508 struck for commercial use, fewer than 200 exist but enough are in Uncirculated (around two dozen) that it is likely a small hoard existed at one time. The finest I am aware of are a group of three to five in MS64.

This semi-prooflike example shows the mint-made vertical die striations in the planchet which are seen not only on quarter eagles dated 1862 but on many silver and gold coins of this year as well. The color is a leasing natural light yellow and orange-gold and the strike is bold with full centers on both sides. There are clusters of light handling marks in the obverse fields and some other seen on the reverse; these are shallow and consistent with the assigned grade.

Only two PCGS MS62 examples of the 1862 quarter eagle have sold at auction since August 2001. The most recent sale was HA 2010 ANA: 5812 which brought $5,175 in a market which was far less appreciative of choice Civil War gold coinage.