1836 $2.50 HM-4 MS(PCGS#764698)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

3224

Grade

MS65+

Price

99,000

Lot Description

An incredibly beautiful Gem, both sides displaying satiny luster, mellowed to deep golden-yellow, highlighted with exceptionally attractive coppery toning. The surfaces are pristine, completely free of contact marks and showing remarkably few lines. The surfaces truly look as though they were just minted. The central obverse definition is soft, a marked contrast with the beautifully struck periphery and wire rim. The reverse is similarly struck with a touch of softness at the junction of the shield and the eagle's right wing and leg, the detail sharp to full elsewhere. This pattern of strike is quite common on early date Classic Head quarter eagles and points to persistent die spacing issues on the part of Mint personnel during the first few years this type was in production.<p>The 1836 HM-4 variety shows the so-called Head of 1835, an obverse hub that was likely among the first executed by Christian Gobrecht after his hiring as a full time engraver in August 1835. Already a highly regarded engraver in Philadelphia, the seat of the American metalworking industry, Gobrecht's salary upon being hired was higher than that of his putative boss, the stroke-incapacitated William Kneass. Within a few years, Gobrecht would redesign every American denomination, and today his designs are favorites among collectors.<p>The die variety of choice for collectors seeking a single 1836 quarter eagle for inclusion in a date set, HM-4 also holds tremendous appeal for type purposes. Quality conscious buyers in both categories need to temper their expectations, however, for the 1836 as an issue is very scarce in MS-64 and rare any finer. Tied with one other PCGS MS-65+ as CC#2 for the date, this premium Gem specimen was called "by far the finest we have seen" in 1970 by Lester Merkin, who continued to write that this piece "outclasses the usually offered 'Uncirculated' run of this design by many points." Supremely attractive and technically choice, the sort of coin that makes the few collectors who already own high grade examples jump at the chance to upgrade.