1849-Da

The 1849-D quarter eagle posted a recorded mintage of 10,945 pieces at the Dahlonega branch, placing it among the lower production totals of the 1840s for that facility. Dahlonega had been converting Georgia placer gold into federal coin since 1838, and the local supply remained modest and seasonal even as the wider national bullion picture began shifting toward California. The facility's Coronet dies for 1849 worked competently but show the period's typical light flowlines and modest die fatigue across the central devices. Pieces went straight into circulation through the southern Piedmont and the inland cotton economy, and most known survivors carry meaningful wear at the high points of Liberty's hair and the eagle's shield. Doug Winter estimates survival in the 110 to 150 range across all grades, with the population concentrated in Very Fine and lower About Uncirculated condition. Choice AU coins are scarce, and Mint State examples are rare enough that any certified specimen is a documented event in the branch census.

Authentication leads with the D mintmark, which sits below the eagle on the reverse in the medium punch size used at Dahlonega through the late 1840s. A genuine 1849-D mintmark sits in a documented position relative to the arrow feathers and shows the crowned punch impression with metal flow that thins outward into the field without perimeter tooling marks. The recurring deception is an added D cut or soldered onto a Philadelphia 1849 host, and the tells are familiar: flat punch tops, faint cut lines along the letter edges, incorrect mintmark spacing, or a slightly different surface texture in the immediate area around the D. Standard specifications call for 4.18 grams in 0.900 fine gold at specific gravity near 17.2, with the reeded edge struck under coin alignment matching other Dahlonega Coronet output. Confirm the Dahlonega attribution rather than the twentieth-century Denver D, which used a distinctly different punch shape.

Demand for Dahlonega quarter eagles has supported strong premiums on certified problem-free 1849-D coins, and the issue holds a firm Key Date position within the branch's run. Date specialists and southern-mint collectors compete for the same small population at major auctions. See the full Liberty Head Quarter Eagle series history.