1839-D $2.50 MS(PCGS#7700)

June 2026 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

4148

Grade

VF35

Price

7,320

Lot Description

This handsome piece exhibits intermingled olive-gray highlights to dominant deep honey-gold color. Lightly struck in the centers, especially on the reverse, although the detail is considerably bolder elsewhere. 1839 was the first year of coinage for the denomination at the Dahlonega Mint, the final year of quarter eagle coinage of the design type, and the second of just two years with an obverse mintmark position (the first year, 1838, saw branch mint coinage from only the Charlotte facility). In 1840, Christian Gobrecht's Liberty Head design replaced William Kneass' short-lived Classic Head motif of 1834 to 1839, and the mintmark position was moved to the reverse die. The 1839-D offered here is from a modest mintage of 13,674 pieces, of which fewer than 300 coins are believed extant in all grades.