1798 Wide Date

Wide Date is the more often encountered of the two date logotypes Robert Scot's coiners pulled from the 1798 quarter eagle dies, and it belongs to the first year the denomination wore the Heraldic Eagle reverse. Philadelphia delivered 1,094 coins across both date varieties combined, and the Wide Date subset is somewhat better represented in modern census work than its Close Date sister catalogued separately. Survivors number only fifteen to thirty pieces per variety per Bowers and Akers, which keeps even the more available of the two firmly in rarity territory. The reverse change matters as a series marker: the 1798 closes the Small Eagle reverse and opens the Heraldic Eagle stretch that would carry the type through 1807.

Authentication starts with the date logotype itself. Under five-power to ten-power magnification, the four digits of a Wide Date show distinctly broader spacing between numerals than the Close Date sister variety, and reference plates from John Dannreuther and the Bass-Eliasberg catalogs are the working standard for attribution; any 1798 with intermediate spacing should be re-examined against the published plates rather than confirmed by feel. The reverse is the second checkpoint: a genuine 1798 quarter eagle must show the Heraldic Eagle with shield, arrows, and olive branch, and a 1798 with a Small Eagle reverse is misattributed or counterfeit. Specifications close the file at 4.37 grams of 0.9167 fine gold on a 20-millimeter planchet, with a fully reeded edge and coin alignment showing the reverse rotated 180 degrees from the obverse.

For the working specialist, the Wide Date is the more attainable side of the 1798 pair, though attainable here means a piece surfaces at major auction once every few years rather than once per decade. Circulated examples in Fine through Very Fine cross the block in the high five figures and well into six figures, with Extremely Fine and About Uncirculated coins climbing into the mid six-figure range when original surfaces survive; choice Mint State pieces are essentially absent from the population reports. Acquisition runs through the named-cabinet auction route at Heritage and Stack's Bowers, and a documented chain of ownership adds weight at the bidding desk because raw 1798 quarter eagles without provenance warrant extra scrutiny before grading services accept them. See the full Draped Bust Quarter Eagle series history.