The 1863-1865 Philadelphia quarter eagles range from rare to virtually unavailable, making the 1866 an important stopgap for date collectors of Liberty Head quarter eagles. But this is no easy date to locate as its low mintage of 3,080 business strikes would suggest. There are probably not more than four dozen or so known and this specific example probably qualifies at the tail end of the Condition Census.

As with all known business strikes of this date, this piece shows prominent die basining lines on the obverse which impart a distinctive grainy texture of luster. Both sides exhibit warm reddish-gold color with the hues a bit deeper on the obverse/ There are a few small scuffs seen on the upper reverse but the overall eye appeal s excellent for the date and grade.

The only PCGS AU58 1866 quarter eagle to sell at auction in the past two decades was Heritage 2/13: 3928 which brought $7,050. This coin had an odd area of weakness on the reverse which, in my opinion, adversely impacted the eye appeal.

This is the nicer of only two graded as such by PCGS and it represents an important example for the serious quarter eagle collector to acquire a significant rarity.