By the end of 1861 it was obvious to most Americans both North and South that the outcome of the Civil War was not going to be decided quickly. In the North, banks suspended gold specie payments in December of that year, which resulted in the disappearance of such coins from commercial channels in the East and Midwest. Production at the Philadelphia Mint fell off accordingly, the facility striking just 98,508 quarter eagles for circulation in 1862 as opposed to 1,283,788 coins in 1861. (The 1861 mintage is particularly generous for the era and was achieved to help the North fund the war effort.) Yearly circulation strike mintages at the Philadelphia Mint continued to fall off markedly, and they remained limited until the late 1870s. In 1863, in fact, the Philadelphia Mint did not produce a single circulation strike quarter eagle. Proof production continued apace, however, the facility striking 30 Proofs that year.

As a Proof-only issue with a paltry mintage, the 1863 quarter eagle has long been recognized as a leading rarity in the classic U.S. Mint gold series. Most of the coins seem to have been distributed to contemporary collectors, the experts at PCGS CoinFacts estimating that 18 to 22 examples are extant. Jeff Garrett and Ron Guth (Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins: 1795-1933, 2008) take a slightly more conservative view with perhaps 15 to 20 coins extant, including a few specimens that are impaired due to polishing or damage. The National Numismatic Collection in the Smithsonian Institution contains two Proof 1863 quarter eagles, one from the original U.S. Mint cabinet and the other formerly part of the Josiah K. Lilly Collection. That leaves fewer than 20 examples in private hands, a few of which are impaired, and many of which are in tightly held collections. Market appearances for problem free, high quality survivors are understandably few and far between.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the August 2019 Rosemont ANA Auction, where it sold for $114,000.