1797 $2.50 AU55 Certification #38790215, PCGS #7648

CAC

David Akers (1975/88)

Almost identical in mintage and overall rarity to the 1796 With Stars, but as auction data indicates, the 1797 is much more difficult to obtain in full mint state. There are 13 stars on the obverse arranged 7 to the left of the head and 6 to the right. The reverse has 16 stars above the eagle, but the configuration is slightly different than on either of the 1796 coins. All known specimens exhibit a prominent die break that runs from the Y of LIBERTY down to the 12th and 13th stars. I have not seen the piece personally, but the specimen in the J.F. Bell Sale of 1963 appears to be the finest known.

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P. Scott Rubin

The 1797 Quarter Eagle is a very rare coin in any condition with a recorded mintage of only 427 coins it is one of the rarest of all Quarter Eagles. It is probably one of the most under rated coins in the denomination and for that matter, all gold coins.

It is possible that one of the reasons that so little attention is paid of this rarity is the fact that no 1797 Quarter Eagles are known in Gem condition with only one coin grading above MS-62. The highest graded coin is graded MS-64 by NGC. This is in a group of only three coins believed to be in Mint State condition.

Auction records going back to 1864 for this date Quarter Eagle show that most of the well known collections sold since that time have contained only circulated specimens. The record price, as of July, 2014, for a 1797 Quarter Eagle is $276,000 for the NGC MS-64 coin sold by Superior Galleries 11/17/2005 sale as lot 484. The coin was the only coin pictured on the front cover and was estimated at about $500,000, yet only realized the above mentioned $276,000. No pedigree was mentioned for this coin in the catalog.