Variety 3-F.

The 1842-D is the third rarest quarter eagle from Dahlonega in higher grades, trailing the 1840-D and 1856-D. Only 4,643 were made and around fourteen to sixteen exist in AU with most in the AU50 to AU53 range.

This well struck example shows very pleasing original green-gold color and there is some dirt seen in the lettering on the reverse. There is one fine scratch on the cheek of Liberty but the quality of the surfaces is exceptional for the date. This is an extremely hard issue to find with good eye appeal and this is among the more pleasing 1842-D quarter eagles that I have handled in some time.

Four NGC AU55 1842-D quarter eagles have sold at auction since the end of 2010 with prices ranging from a low of $7,638 to a high of $10,063. None of these were CAC approved. An AU58 example with CAC approval is probably worth close to $20,000 in today’s market.

An important coin for the advanced collector of Dahlonega quarter eagles.

CAC has approved two in this grade with three finer (all AU58).