1851-O Liberty Head Quarter Eagle : A Collector’s Guide

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

Of the three branch mints created by the Coinage Act of 1838, only the New Orleans Mint seemed truly necessary going into the 1840s. The mints in Charlotte and Dahlonega served as local coining facilities for gold extracted from the former lands of the Cherokee people, while the mint in New Orleans was used primarily to convert Spanish silver and gold into federal coinage.

In 1851, the New Orleans Mint struck coins in 10 denominations, starting with the newly-introduced Three-Cent Silver piece and continuing through to the double eagle. The only then-current coins that New Orleans did not strike were the cent, the half cent, and the silver dollar. Of those three denominations, New Orleans would only occasionally strike the dollar, and copper coins would not be struck by a branch mint until 1908, a year before the New Orleans branch’s closure.

In terms of New Orleans-struck Liberty Head Quarter Eagles, the 1851-O is not exceptional. The issue boasts the second-highest mintage in the series and survives in sufficient numbers to qualify neither as rare nor scarce. Mint State examples tend to fall into the MS61 and MS62 grades; some may be considered “slidery” by series specialists.

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Market Data and Noteworthy Specimens

Top Population: PCGS MS64 (1, 9/2024), NGC MS65 (1, 9/2024), and CAC MS62 (2:0 stickered:graded, 9/2024).

• PCGS MS64 #02735358: Heritage Auctions, May 10, 2007, Lot 2230 – $20,700. Variety 1. Doubled date. Diagonal mark to the left of the first 1. Diagonal hash marks across cheek. Diagonal mark between stars 1 and 2. bottom radials of star 1 flattened. Bottom of Liberty’s hair and bun flat. On the reverse, eagle detail soft throughout. 
• PCGS MS63 #39400074: PCGS User Hinkle. Imaged on PCGS CoinFacts. Variety 2. Copper spot at base of first 1 of date. Two diagonal scratches below bun. On the reverse, dark mark between branch and eagle’s leg.
• PCGS MS63 #5652481: Paramount, November 1971, Lot 1013; As “MS61”. “The Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection,” Bowers and Merena, October 1999, Lot 449. As PCGS MS63 #5652481. Heritage Auctions, October 14, 2011, Lot 4679 – $10,350. Doubled date. Diagonal hash mark to the upper right of star 1. Diagonal cut in the hair pointing to the B of LIBERTY. Diagonal mark to the bottom left of star 9. Eagle’s right leg flat. Highest details of neck feather flat. Scattered orange-gold discoloration throughout.
• PCGS MS63: “The Ronald W. Brown Acadiana Collection,” Superior, May 30-June 1, 1993, Lot 1388 – $12,650; Heritage Auctions, August 13, 1999, Lot 7856 – $16,675. Kansas Collection. Not imaged.
• PCGS MS62 #81690088: As NGC MS62 #3047542-005. Heritage Auctions, January 8, 2010, Lot 3838 – $4,600. As PCGS MS62 #81690088. “The Wasatch Collection of Liberty Quarter Eagles,” Heritage Auctions, November 1, 2016, Lot 5457 – $4,935. Variety 1. Doubled date. Planchet flaw to the left of nose and large apparent disturbance behind bun. Lower hair features softly impressed. 
• PCGS MS62 #19125173: Heritage Auctions, April 29, 2011, Lot 6326 – $5,475.
• NGC MS62 #1876253-002: “The Grand Lake Collection,” Heritage Auctions, February 6, 2009, Lot 2514 – $4,025. Variety 1. Doubled date. Dig on chin and the bust truncation above the flag tip of 5. Strikethrough below bun.

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Varieties

U.S. gold coin specialist Doug Winter identifies two varieties for the date in his Gold Coins of the New Orleans Mint, 1839-1909 (Third Edition, 2018). Both varieties share the same reverse die but are distinguished by the presence or absence of a doubled date. On Winter Variety 1 (Breen-6214), the date punch was mistakenly impressed too low and offset to the left. The base of the second “1” is visible. This variety is frequently encountered.

1851-O Liberty Head Quarter Eagle Coin Specifications

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