1843-O $2.50 Small Date MS(PCGS#7731)

1843-O $2.50 Small Date MS (PCGS#7731)

The June 2010 Baltimore Auction

Lot Description: 1843-O Liberty Quarter Eagle. Small Date. Winter Variety Two. MS-64 (NGC). Smooth, satiny surfaces are solidly graded at the threshold of Gem Mint State. Both sides possess even color in a pale yellow-gold shade that accents an overall sharp strike. Only in the centers does the detail soften to an appreciable extent--a very common attribute for a New Orleans Mint Quarter Eagle of the Liberty type.<br /> Of the two date logotypes used to strike 1843-O Two-and-a-Halves, the Small Date accounts for the vast majority of survivors in numismatic hands. The '43-O Small Date is actually the most plentiful New Orleans Mint Quarter in an absolute sense, although it is rarer than the 1854-O in high grades. Mint State coins are rare-to-very rare and probably number fewer than 50 pieces even including the recent influx of a few shipwreck pieces such as the present example. As a near-Gem the coin we offer here is very rare from a condition standpoint and numbers among the finest known for the issue.