Rare and Highly Collectible Turban Head Quarter Eagle Gold Coins

The new republic of the United States began minting coins as a nation in the early 1790s with the founding of the Philadelphia mint. There was very little gold to be found in the colonies, with much of it being melted down from Spanish Dubloons, that were considered to be the standard gold coin of commerce at the time. For investors looking to buy gold bullion, coins from the very early history of the US have a high gold content and considerable numismatic value.

The very first gold Quarter-Eagle coins were minted in 1796, with the first minting of what is now known as the Turban Head Quarter Eagle. This coin was hand-produced in Philadelphia, based upon a design by the first Head Engraver of the US Mint, Robert Scot. Quarter Eagle coins were issued as 91.67% pure through several designs until the purity was lowered in 1834.

The rest of the alloy is copper, giving these coins a more orange appearance (similar to the modern South African Krugerrand coins) than those alloyed with silver. This also means that early Quarter Eagles are rather soft, with many surviving specimens bearing faults and marks from the manufacturing process. Often this takes the form of soft strikes that are slightly off-center, as the half-finished planchets (pre-formed and finished blanks).

The relatively high gold content of these coins (for the time) coupled with the very low rates of manufacture has made the Turban Head Quarter Eagle coin one of the most collectible coins in US history, with as few as a handful of each date still existing. A great many were melted down during the economic panics of the 19th century. Though always collectible by those looking to buy gold bullion coins, two and a half dollars was a lot of money in the early Republic, keeping the population who could ever afford these coins in a relatively small minority.

In the years it was minted, from 1796 until 1807, fewer than 1,500 coins were produced in most years. The exceptions to this are 1797, when fewer than 500 were made and the final year of production, with nearly 7,000 produced for circulation. A practice not adopted until later in the 19th century, there were no proofs of the Turban Head Quarter Eagle produced.

There were several design changes made to the Turban Head design over its lifetime, with the number and placement of the obverse stars changing from year to year (or omitted completely, as in 1796). They are not normally collected as different types, as the Turban Head is so very rare already.

It is said that there are no “impossible” types of the Turban Head Quarter Eagle to be lusted after people with a genuine historical curiosity buy gold bullion coins. That said, all types 18th century US gold remain few enough to be difficult to find, with prices fetching many thousands of dollars when an Almost Uncirculated (AU-coin is found. A few collectors have been able to assemble an entire set of these coins, but prices have been and remain quite high, for even a good (G-4) grade coin. Most of the remaining Turban Head Quarter Eagle coins are graded as Very Fine (VF-20) or Extremely Fine (VF-40), since the only ones that remain are those that were kept in families for the last few centuries.

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Shannon King

March 12, 2009