1862

The 1862 Liberty Head Quarter Eagle entered production during the second year of the Civil War, when the financial environment surrounding small gold coinage had been transformed almost beyond recognition. Congress had passed the Legal Tender Act in February 1862, authorizing United States Notes (greenbacks) that began circulating at a discount against gold within weeks. The premium on specie climbed sharply through the year, and small denominations like the $2.50 piece were among the first to vanish from daily commerce. Philadelphia struck 98,543 quarter eagles for the calendar year, a meaningful figure on paper but one that masks how few of those coins remained available to ordinary Americans by year-end.

Most circulation strikes were absorbed by hoarders, exporters, and bullion brokers within months of release. Survival rates today reflect that pattern, with the issue scarcer in mid-grades than the mintage suggests and genuinely difficult in choice uncirculated condition. The reverse displays the heraldic eagle with shield, arrows, and olive branch designed by Christian Gobrecht, the obverse showing the coronet portrait of Liberty surrounded by thirteen stars and the date below the bust. Reeded edge, coin alignment, 18 millimeters across, struck on a planchet of 0.900 fine gold weighing 4.18 grams. Authentication should begin with weight verification on a calibrated scale, since underweight examples warrant immediate suspicion of contemporary counterfeiting or modern forgery, both of which targeted Civil War-era gold heavily during periods of bullion speculation.

For specialists assembling a Liberty Head Quarter Eagle date set, the 1862 Philadelphia issue carries semi-key status that grows more apparent with handling. Mintage figures from this period rarely tell the full story, and the wartime context explains why surviving populations diverge so dramatically from production records. The denomination itself was already losing relevance in everyday transactions, displaced by paper currency that was easier to carry and not subject to the constant melt incentives that hounded specie throughout the conflict. The few examples that escaped the bullion melt and found their way into early collections are now scattered through cabinet pedigrees stretching back to the late nineteenth century. See the full Liberty Head Quarter Eagle series history.