$2.5 Quarter Eagle Gold Coin

The $2.5 Quarter Eagle Gold Coin also know just as the Quarter Eagle was a gold coin issued by the US Mint for circulation on the territory of the United States. The Quarter Eagle was first minted in 1796 and officially discontinued in 1933, but the last issue of the $2.5 Quarter Eagle gold coin was in 1929. The $2.5 Quarter Eagle gold coin was part of the gold coinage program of the US Mint with the Eagle as the base coin, which had a denomination of 10 dollars and all other coins of the program were either fractions of multiplies of the Eagle.

$2.5 Quarter Eagle
Turban Head Obverse



$2.5 Quarter Eagle
Turban Head Reverse



$2.5 Quarter Eagle
Draped Bust Obverse



$2.5 Quarter Eagle
Draped Bust Reverse

There were six major designs of the $2.5 Quarter Eagle gold coin issued during over 130 years while the coin was in circulation, which was a lot as the Eagle itself had only three major design. All main specs of the $2.5 Quarter Eagle gold coin were aligned with the specs of the $10 Eagle gold coin and were changing as the specs of the Eagle were changing as well. You can read more about different designs of the $2.5 Quarter Eagle gold coin below and after current listings (scroll down).

Liberty Cap (Turban Head) (1796 – 1807)
The Turban Head design by Chief Engraver Robert Scot was the first design used for gold coins issued by the US Mint for circulation on the territory of the United States. The $2.5 Quarter Eagle gold coin had gold composition of 0.9166 or 22 Karat and gold content of 0.1289. The coin was 20 mm diameter and weighed 4.37 gram. There are eleven recognized varieties of the Turban Head Quarter Eagle, including the "No Stars" variety of 1796, and the total of 19,487 coins were minted. There is no proof $2.5 Quarter Eagle gold coins were minted, but rather some mirror-like finishes only. The coins were issued until Mint Director Patterson ordered redesign of all denominations in 1807.

Draped Bust (1808)
The Draped Bust was designed by John Reich, who recently assigned to substitute aging Robert Scot, and was minted only for one year. The $2.5 Quarter Eagle gold coin specifications have not changed at this time. Due to financial and technical issued, only 2,710 coins were struck, which made them instantly a rarity. Moreover, no Quarter Eagle coins were minted for the next twelve years and it's estimated that only about fifty or less 1808 Quarter Eagles of all grades exist today.

Capped Head (1821 – 1834)
In 1821 after a 12-year break and for not clear reasons the mintage of the $2.5 Quarter Eagle gold coin was resumed. Robert Scot, still the Chief Engraver and of the age 77 at the time, used a modified design of the Draped Bust created earlier by his assistant John Reich. The Quarter Eagle coin itself was reduced in diameter initially to 18.5 mm and then in 1829 to 18.2 mm, but gold composition, content, and weight stayed the same. A total of over 42,000 Capped Head Quarter Eagle coins were issued from 1821 through 1834.

You can find more about other types of the $2.5 Quarter Eagle gold coin after current listings (scroll down).

You can see current listings for $2.5 Quarter Eagle gold coins here:

Types of the $2.5 Quarter Eagle Gold Coin (continue)

$2.5 Quarter Eagle
Capped Head Obverse



$2.5 Quarter Eagle
Capped Head Reverse

Classic Head (1834 – 1839)
The Classic Head was designed by William Kneass and was minted for only five years. The whole system of US gold coinage was revised at the time and the new $2.5 Quarter Eagle gold coin had its gold composition reduced to 0.8990 and gold content to 0.1209 oz. The diameter of the coin stayed the same but the weight went down to 4.18 g. There're several varieties of the coin, including popular "Small Head" and "Booby Head" and the total of over 960,000 Classic Head Quarter Eagle were issued.

Coronet Head (1840 – 1907)
Since the Classic Head was an adaptation of old designs by John Reich, a new design was needed and as a result the Coronet Head was created by Christian Golbrecht. The new $2.5 Quarter Eagle gold coin had slightly improved its gold qualities, having gold composition increased to 0.9000 and gold content to 0.1210 oz. The diameter of the coin was reduced even further to 18 mm, but the weight stayed the same (4.18 g). There numerous varieties and rarities of the coin exist and the total of over 10,000,000 Coronet Head Quarter Eagle gold coins were minted.

Indian Head (1908 – 1929)
The Indian Head was designed by Bostonian sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt and was the same for both Quarter Eagle and Half Eagle coins. The new design was quite unique as unlike other US gold coins it was incuse, meaning that details of the coin were not raised, but rather sunken with the coin itself being flat. The new $2.5 Quarter Eagle gold coin specifications had not changed and were the same as for the Coronet Head. Indian Head Quarter Eagle gold coins were minted in two periods: from 1908 to 1915 and later after a 10-year break from 1925 to 1929.

You can see more pictures of the $2.5 Quarter Eagle gold coin below:

$2.5 Quarter Eagle Classic Head Obverse $2.5 Quarter Eagle Coronet Head Obverse $2.5 Quarter Eagle Indian Head Obverse

$2.5 Quarter Eagle Classic Head Reverse $2.5 Quarter Eagle Coroent Head Reverse $2.5 Quarter Eagle Indian Head Reverse