Draped Bust Quarter Eagles (1796–1807)
The Quarter Eagle Was the Last of the Three Authorized Gold Denominations to Enter Production
The Coinage Act of April 2, 1792 authorized three gold denominations: the eagle ($10), the half eagle ($5), and the quarter eagle ($2.50). Half eagles and eagles entered production in 1795; the quarter eagle waited until 1796. Chief Engraver Robert Scot adapted his Draped Bust design for the obverse, the same design already in use on the silver dollar and half dollar, itself drawn from a portrait model by painter Gilbert Stuart using Philadelphia socialite Ann Willing Bingham as his subject. Liberty faces right, her hair loosely dressed with a ribbon, wearing a soft cap that Mint Director Samuel Moore would later identify not as an ancient liberty cap but as a fashionable headdress of the 1790s. LIBERTY is inscribed above the bust and the date appears below. The reverse bears a Heraldic Eagle, Robert Scot's adaptation of the Great Seal of the United States, with a shield on the eagle's breast, E PLURIBUS UNUM on a ribbon in its beak, and its talons holding a bundle of arrows and an olive branch. Stars arc over the eagle's head. The denomination $2.50 does not appear on the coin.1
The 1796 No Stars Is a One-Year Type and the Rarest Coin Required for a Complete Type Set
The first quarter eagles, with a total delivery of 963 pieces, were struck without stars on the obverse. The reasoning appears to have been that the stars were already placed on the reverse as part of the Heraldic Eagle design, making obverse stars redundant; later in 1796 Scot cut a second obverse die with 16 stars, one for each state then in the Union, arranged eight to the left and eight to the right of the bust. The 1796 No Stars is the only quarter eagle ever struck without obverse stars, making it a one-year type essential to any complete type set of United States coinage. Of an estimated 100 to 125 survivors out of the 963 struck, the typical example grades Extremely Fine to About Uncirculated; Mint State pieces number fewer than ten, with a single Gem known. The companion 1796 With Stars, delivered in two batches in late 1796 and January 1797 for a total of 432 pieces, is rarer still in absolute numbers, with only 40 to 50 thought to survive, but it commands less market premium because the With Stars design continued through 1807 and type collectors are not limited to the single 1796 date to represent it. Stack's Bowers Galleries, August 2025 Global Showcase Auction, lot 2004, 1796 No Stars BD-2, PCGS About Uncirculated 50, $168,000.2
Low Mintages Persisted Because Depositors Preferred Larger Denominations
In the early Philadelphia Mint, gold coins were struck primarily on demand, when depositors brought bullion and requested a specific denomination in return. Breen observed that during the entire period from 1796 through 1807, quarter eagles were coined only in isolated small batches of a few hundred or at most a few thousand pieces; depositors consistently chose the half eagle as more convenient for commerce and the eagle for large overseas transactions. The quarter eagle's size put it in an awkward position, neither small enough to replace silver in daily transactions nor large enough for wholesale trade. No quarter eagles were struck in 1799, 1801, or 1803, and the years that did see production had mintages dwarfed by the half eagle's. The entire Draped Bust quarter eagle series produced approximately 19,487 coins across nine production dates, less than a single common-date Morgan dollar issue of the 1880s.3
The 1804 Thirteen Stars Reverse Is the Series Key Among the Later Dates
After 1796, subsequent quarter eagle obverse dies carried 13 stars rather than 16, distributed in varying configurations. The 1804 appears with two distinct reverses: a Fourteen Stars reverse (the more common variety, with a mintage share that accounts for most of the combined 1804 output of 3,327 coins) and a Thirteen Stars reverse so rare that only nine examples are believed to exist in all grades. The 1804 Thirteen Stars is the single most challenging later date in the series to locate in any grade. The 1797, struck in very small numbers, is also a major rarity; the 1798 is scarce; and the 1802, which is actually an overdate (1802 over 1), accounts for a modest batch that the Mint reported in fiscal 1803. The 1807 carries the series' largest single-date mintage at 6,812 pieces and is the most available Draped Bust quarter eagle for collectors seeking a well-struck, attractive type representative without the premium of the 1796 dates.4
Building the Set
A type set of this design requires either the 1796 No Stars (one-year type, carrying a substantial premium for that status) or any date from 1796 With Stars through 1807, with the 1807 being the most practical choice in higher circulated and lower Mint State grades. The 1796 No Stars is among the five or six most expensive coins required to complete any standard United States type set, and approaching it without preparation is an expensive way to learn about condition rarity and surface integrity in early gold. The complete date-and-variety set, encompassing the No Stars, the With Stars, and all subsequent production dates through 1807, is a small set by count but a very demanding one by rarity and cost: no date is common, several are very rare, and the 1804 Thirteen Stars may require years of waiting for an opportunity to bid. Gem (Mint State 65 or finer) examples of any date are extraordinary. Most advanced collectors working toward a complete set accept Extremely Fine to About Uncirculated as realistic targets for the majority of dates, reserving the effort to find higher-grade pieces for the dates where they are at least occasionally available. The primary specialist reference is Bowers, Q. David, A Guide Book of Quarter Eagle Gold Coins (Atlanta: Whitman Publishing, 2022).5
Notes
- The Coinage Act of April 2, 1792 authorizing three gold denominations; half eagles and eagles entering production in 1795 and quarter eagles in 1796; Robert Scot as Chief Engraver; the Draped Bust obverse design shared with silver denominations; the design origin in Gilbert Stuart's portrait model of Philadelphia socialite Ann Willing Bingham; Liberty's description (right-facing bust, loosely dressed hair, ribbon, soft cap); Mint Director Moore's 1825 identification of the cap as a fashionable 1790s headdress rather than an ancient liberty cap; LIBERTY above and date below; the Heraldic Eagle reverse as Scot's adaptation of the Great Seal; E PLURIBUS UNUM on a ribbon in the eagle's beak; arrows and olive branch in the eagle's talons; stars arcing over the eagle; absence of a denomination are from Bowers, Q. David, A Guide Book of Quarter Eagle Gold Coins (Atlanta: Whitman Publishing, 2022), pp. 1–50.
- The first deliveries of 963 quarter eagles without obverse stars; the probable rationale that obverse stars were redundant given the reverse Heraldic Eagle's star placement; Scot's second die with 16 stars arranged eight-to-eight representing the 16 states; the 1796 No Stars as the only starless quarter eagle, required for a complete type set; estimated 100 to 125 survivors; fewer than ten in Mint State with a single Gem known; the 1796 With Stars total of 432 pieces across two batches; approximately 40 to 50 survivors; the With Stars commanding less premium because the design continued through 1807 are from Bowers, A Guide Book of Quarter Eagle Gold Coins, pp. 50–120. Auction: Stack's Bowers Galleries, August 2025 Global Showcase Auction, lot 2004, 1796 No Stars BD-2, PCGS About Uncirculated 50, $168,000.
- The demand-driven minting process at the early Philadelphia Mint; Breen's observation that quarter eagles were coined only in isolated small batches; depositors preferring half eagles for commerce and eagles for overseas transactions; the denomination's awkward commercial position; no production in 1799, 1801, or 1803; the total series mintage of approximately 19,487 coins are from Bowers, A Guide Book of Quarter Eagle Gold Coins, pp. 30–80, and Breen, Walter, Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins (New York: F.C.I. Press/Doubleday, 1988).
- The post-1796 obverse dies carrying 13 stars in varying configurations; the 1804 appearing with Fourteen Stars and Thirteen Stars reverses; the combined 1804 output of 3,327 coins; the 1804 Thirteen Stars with only nine examples believed to exist in all grades; the 1797 as a major rarity; the 1798 as scarce; the 1802 as an overdate (1802 over 1) reported in fiscal 1803; the 1807 as the largest single-date mintage at 6,812 pieces and the most available date are from Bowers, A Guide Book of Quarter Eagle Gold Coins, pp. 80–200.
- The type-set strategy (1796 No Stars for one-year-type status versus 1807 for type representation at a lower premium); the 1796 No Stars as one of the five or six most expensive coins in a complete type set; the complete date-and-variety set as small but demanding; the 1804 Thirteen Stars as potentially requiring years of waiting; Gem examples as extraordinary for any date; Extremely Fine to About Uncirculated as realistic targets; the 1820s-to-1830s mass melting episode that destroyed most of the original mintage; and the primary reference are from Bowers, Q. David, A Guide Book of Quarter Eagle Gold Coins (Atlanta: Whitman Publishing, 2022).
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