USA 25 cents Seated Liberty Quarter 1873
USA, Carson City
Rarity
Extremely Rare
Attributes of Coins
| Region | USA |
|---|---|
| Denomination | ¼ dollar |
| Krause number | KM# 106 |
| Mintage | 12,462 |
| Metal | Silver 0.900 |
| thickness | 1.75 mm |
| diameter | 24.3 mm |
| weight | 6.25 g |
Obverse:
Liberty
Star
Creators:
Christian Gobrecht
LIBERTY
Reverse:
Coat of arms
Creators:
Christian Gobrecht
IN GOD WE TRUST
QUAR.DOL.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Introduction of Coins
The weight increase that went into effect April 1, 1873 required the Carson City Mint to wait several months for the arrival of new obverse dies bearing arrowheads at the date. These were finally in hand at the end of June, and shortly thereafter Carson struck off 3,500 quarter dollars. A supplemental delivery of 8,962 pieces came a month later, furnishing the total now known for this issue. While the Philadelphia Mint provided coins for banks and businesses requesting them on demand, the other mints were prohibited from paying out fractional silver coins unless paid for in gold in amounts not less than $1,000 per transaction. Since this was unlikely at the CC Mint, its small denominations remained idle in vaults for years. The only exception to this rule was that fractional silver coins could be given to depositors of gold who were owed amounts ending in less than whole dollars. It's likely that many of the surviving CC rarities were released in this manner, the 1873-CC quarter perhaps being among them. Researcher and author Rusty Goe estimated that just 30-35 examples are known of this issue. A single pair of dies was used to coin both deliveries, and the reverse die was the very same one used for all the CC-Mint quarters of 1870-72. This is a testament to how few quarters were being struck there that the die could last so long. This issue is rare across all grades, with Mint State pieces being extremely so.Read More
