1845

The 1845 Seated Liberty Quarter sits in the middle of the With Drapery No Motto run, struck on the original 6.68-gram standard set by the Mint Act of January 18, 1837. Philadelphia delivered 922,000 pieces, a healthy figure for the date that nonetheless reads differently in hand than on paper: the issue is genuinely common in circulated grades through Fine and Very Fine, then thins quickly through Extremely Fine, and turns into a real chase in Mint State. The reason is silver. Bullion priced the half ounce of silver in two quarters at slightly above face through much of the 1840s, and the gap widened sharply after 1849 as California gold flooded into the system and depressed gold against silver. Coins struck on the old standard kept leaving the country in melting pots, and an 1845 dated piece had nearly eight years of melting exposure before the Coinage Act of February 21, 1853 finally cut the weight to 6.22 grams.

What collectors look for on the date is straightforward. The drapery folds at Liberty's elbow must be present and fully formed, which separates this issue cleanly from the No Drapery dates of 1838 through mid-1840. Strikes are typical for the era and often show some softness on the eagle's right leg and the lower shield rivets, but central head detail and stars should be sharp on a properly graded coin. Larry Briggs, whose Comprehensive Encyclopedia of United States Liberty Seated Quarters remains the standard die-marriage reference, catalogs the issue without major separately-priced varieties. Authentication starts with weight, which on a genuine pre-Arrows piece falls within roughly 6.60 to 6.74 grams; anything close to 6.22 grams indicates a post-1853 planchet and a problem coin. Cleaning is the more common defect than outright counterfeiting; harsh wiping that hairlines the open fields lowers grade and value sharply.

For a date-set builder, the 1845 is one of the more achievable pre-Arrows Philadelphia issues in Very Fine and Extremely Fine and well worth the modest premium that an attractive About Uncirculated coin commands. Mint State examples are scarcer than the 922,000 mintage suggests because the melting pressure of the early 1850s thinned out the unworn population before it could be saved. The Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) and the Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC) populations skew heavily to circulated grades, and a problem-free MS62 coin generally outvalues a comparable later-date example by a noticeable margin. For the broader story of Gobrecht's design and the series' production arc, see the Seated Liberty Quarter series history.