1843 Seated Liberty Quarter

Philadelphia delivered 645,600 quarters in 1843, a strong output that signaled improving commercial conditions after the slow recovery from the Panic of 1837. The mid-1840s brought steady economic expansion, and silver coinage production rose across multiple denominations as banks deposited more bullion and requested more coins for distribution.

PCGS estimates 600 survive across all grades, with 60 in Mint State and only 3 at the gem level. Ron Guth has observed that the 1843 is typical of most 1840s dates: scarce but findable, available in Uncirculated with patience and some luck. No 1840s quarter had a mintage exceeding one million coins, which means every date from the decade carries at least a modest scarcity premium. The most commonly encountered Mint State grade for the 1843 is MS63, and populations drop quickly on either side. The finest known include two coins at MS66, one of which passed through the Doug Noblet Collection and the Gardner Collection before entering the D.L. Hansen Collection. An MS65 brought $4,935 at Heritage in May 2015 from the Gardner sale.