1850-D Liberty Head Quarter Eagle : History & Value

By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes …..
 

After an emission of 36,209 Liberty Head Quarter Eagles in 1843, the Dahlonega Mint settled into a range of mintages between 10,945 and 19,460 for the remainder of the 1840s.

Production levels would remain in the 11,000 to 12,000 range for the first two years of the 1850s before a massive falloff. The Philadelphia Mint prepared three obverse dies for the 1850-D but only one marriage is known.

Both the 1850-D Liberty Head Quarter Eagle and the 1851 Liberty Head Quarter Eagle saw heavy circulation and the number of Mint State survivors extant for these dates are few. There are multiple reasons for this, but three factors are key.

First, the number of active coin collectors in the United States in the 1840s and ’50s numbered in the hundreds. Second, few if any of these collectors were concerned about collecting coins by mintmark, a collecting pursuit that didn’t really take off until the 1910s and ’20s. Third, a $2.50 gold coin in 1850 had the purchasing power of a little over $100 today, which meant that only the wealthy could afford it. Any 1850-D Liberty Head Quarter Eagle that survived to the 1930s in Mint State did so by chance.

Most 1850-D Liberty Head Quarter Eagles traded today are found in Extra Fine or About Uncirculated condition and most have been processed to remove dirt and patina. Unless abrasively cleaned, these coins would likely be straight-graded with no mention of a past cleaning. Coins with original skin are quite rare. Having said that, this is the last “available” D-Mint date of the series.

In numismatist David Akers’ United States Gold Coins, An Analysis of Auction Records, Volume I (1975), the leading U.S. gold coin expert of the 1970s and ’80s estimated a surviving population of 61 pieces. Quite a few more examples have turned up since then as PCGS and NGC report a combined certified population of over 200 pieces in the grades AU50 and above. Some percentage of this number undoubtedly includes regrades and no coin has been graded finer than MS63.

The auction data paints an incomplete picture of the finest known examples of the date. Not only are pre-2000 pedigrees not apparent but also we are unable to match coins with Doug Winter’s Condition Census. So far. We will strive to correct this in a future update.

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Market Data and Noteworthy Specimens

Top Population: PCGS MS62 (4, 10/2024), NGC MS63 (2, 10/2024), and CAC MS61 (2:0 stickered:graded, 10/2024).

• PCGS MS62 #33155352: As NGC MS61. American Numismatic Rarities, August 11, 2006, Lot 1207 – Passed. As PCGS MS62 #33155352. “The Joseph Freedberg Collection,” Stack’s Bowers, March 31, 2016, Lot 13158 – $18,800. Del Loy Hansen. Crossed to PCGS and upgraded by one point. Diagonal planchet void in the lower left obverse field. Planchet void on neck.
• PCGS MS62 #50043495: “The C.L. Lee Sale,” American Numismatic Rarities, September 18, 2005, Lot 1113 – $21,850; Heritage Auctions, April 24, 2014, Lot 5694 – $23,500. Fingerprint-shaped discoloration in the lower right obverse field. Eagle’s right leg weak.
• PCGS MS62 #5029422: Heritage Auctions, March 18, 2011, Lot 4637 – $27,600. Dark smudge to the left of Liberty’s lips. Scattered discoloration around date and on bust truncation. Dark spot at 12 o’clock rim.
• NGC MS61+ #3601051-006: Heritage Auctions, October 19, 2012, Lot 5569 – $11,750. Discoloration on the left obverse field.

• PCGS MS61 CAC #14983218: As “Brilliant Uncirculated.” “The George F. Scanlon Collection,” Stack’s, October 1973, Lot 2057 – $800. As PCGS MS61 CAC #14983218. “The A.J. Vanderbilt Collection,” Stack’s Bowers, March 22, 2018, Lot 10305 – $28,800.
• NGC MS61 #302714-013: “The Duke’s Creek Collection of Dahlonega Gold,” Heritage Auctions, April 7, 2006, Lot 1507 – $17,250. DUKES CREEK on insert. Copper toning around date.
• NGC MS61 #1932776-004: Heritage Auctions, February 10, 2006, Lot 2627 – $14,950. Two small ticks in the upper left obverse field below star 5. Small tick upper left of star 12. Tick on coronet above B.
• NGC MS61 #294692-003: Robert Hughes; “The Green Pond Collection,” Heritage Auctions, January 7, 2004, Lot 1028 – $11,500; Heritage Auctions, January 9, 2015, Lot 6877 – $10,575; Heritage Auctions, January 10, 2019, Lot 4622 – $10,200. Shallow gouge on neck. Diagonal scratch in lower right obverse field to the left of star 12.
• NGC MS61 #402605-004: Heritage Auctions, September 27, 2002, Lot 7982 – $8,912.50. Cut on jaw to the left of ear. Toning on denticles above stars 4 and 5. 
• NGC MS61 #961939-005: Heritage Auctions, April 26, 2002, Lot 6859 – $9,200.
• NGC MS61: Heritage Auctions, February 23, 2001, Lot 6864 – $9,487.50.

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1850-D Liberty Head Quarter Eagle Coin Specifications

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