1825 $2.50 MS(PCGS#7664)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

2007

Grade

MS65

Price

240,000

Lot Description

BD Die State a/a. This is an exquisite, virtually unimprovable example of one of the rarest types among classic U.S. Mint gold coinage. Intensely lustrous with crisply denticulated borders, the eye appeal is simply outstanding. The obverse exhibits a bold prooflike finish in the field that contrasts nicely with a softly frosted texture on the devices. The reverse is semi-prooflike overall with light mint frost mingling in the field. The entire coin displays deep, warm, olive-orange color that confirms the coin's originality. The surfaces show no signs of post-Mint contact, leaving it to a tiny obverse planchet void (as made) at star 9 to serve as a useful identifier for provenance purposes.<p>The Philadelphia Mint struck just 4,434 quarter eagles in 1825 during an era in which the half eagle was the most popular denomination among gold bullion depositors. Many of these coins were melted after passage of the Act of June 28, 1834 reduced the weight of the quarter eagle from 4.37 grams to 4.18 grams, creating a scarce issue with an extant population of no more than 150 coins. Of the three known die marriages of the 1825 quarter eagle BD-2, offered here, accounts for most examples. On the obverse the digit 5 in the date is thick with repunching at the tip of the flag, although this feature fades in later die states. The reverse die, a holdover from the 1821- and 1824-dated deliveries, has the fraction 1/2 in the denomination nearly centered under the junction of the lowermost arrow feather and olive branch. This piece is one of the two finest survivors from the issue, surpassed in numeric grade by only the Pogue specimen in PCGS MS-67, although the latter has not been approved by CAC.