1871 Liberty Head $2.50 Gold Quarter Eagle Coin

1871 Liberty Head quarter eagles are valuable collectible coins that collectors treasure for their history, art, and gold content. Just two mints, those in Philadelphia and San Francisco, struck quarter eagles in 1871, meaning there are just two regular-issue business-strike pieces for the collector to pursue.

Here’s a glance at the mintages and values of 1871 $2.50 quarter eagles:

• 1871, 5,320 minted; $643

• 1871-S, 22,000; $596

*Values are for coins grading Very Fine-20, unless otherwise stated.

Mintage figures listed above show that thousands of pieces representing both issues were made. Yet, perhaps only hundreds still exist. This is mainly due to heavy melting of these pre-1933 U.S. gold coins, which were brought to the smelter by the millions after the nation left the gold standard in 1933. Quarter eagles are made of a “coin gold” composition consisting of 90 percent gold and 10 percent copper. They have a weight of 4.18 grams, contain a total of 0.1202 ounces of gold, and measure 18 millimeters in diameter, which is roughly the diameter of a current U.S. dime.

Christian Gobrecht designed 1871 $2.50 gold quarter eagle coins. In addition to having served as the U.S. Mint’s chief engraver, perhaps Gobrecht is most recognized as having designed Seated Liberty coinage, which ran from the late 1830s through 1891.