1876 Liberty Head $2.50 Gold Quarter Eagle Coin

1876 Liberty Head $2.50 quarter eagles are collectible numismatic relics that are still popular today among series enthusiasts and type collectors. Only two mints, those in Philadelphia and San Francisco, produced 1876 quarter eagles, meaning there are two different business-strike issues to collect for the year. All told, less than 10,000 quarter eagles were made during the year between both mints.

Here’s a look at the mintages and values of 1876 $2.50 quarter eagles:

• 1876, 4,176 minted; $716

• 1876-S, 5,000; $656

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

The mintage figures listed above show the thousands of 1876-dated quarter eagles that were made at both mints that year. However, only a small fraction of those coins still exist. This is a common situation for pre-1933 U.S. coins, which were sent to the smelter in huge numbers 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 1876 $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.