1873 Liberty Head $2.50 Gold Quarter Eagle Coin

1873 Liberty Head $2.50 gold coins are highly collectible numismatic relics that are still popular today among series enthusiasts and type collectors. While only two mints, those in Philadelphia and San Francisco, produced 1873-dated quarter eagles, there are actually three regular-issue pieces for the year, as variations in the shape of the digit “3” resulted for the Philadelphia-mint $2.50 coins.

Here’s a look at the mintages and values of 1873 $2.50 quarter eagles:

• 1873 closed “3,” 55,200 minted; $635

• 1873 open “3,” 122,800; $602

• 1873-S, 27,000; $635

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

The mintage figures provided above reflect the fact that thousands of quarter eagles representing both issues were made. Yet, just hundreds of these coins still exist, which is a relatively tiny figure that was further reduced after the melting of these and other pre-1933 U.S. coins during the 20th century. 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 1873 $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.