Following a brief emission of 1796 quarter eagles without obverse stars, the design was modified to add stars to the left and right of the head. The number of stars and their placement vary from issue to issue, but these have not been collected as separate types, perhaps due to the general rarity of quarter eagles in this span. 1796 quarter eagles with stars have eight stars to the left and eight to the right, for a total of 16, while quarter eagles of the years 1797 through 1807 have 13 stars arranged in various ways. 1797 quarter eagles have seven stars to the left and six to the right, while 1798 quarter eagles have six to the left and seven to the right. 1802/1 quarter eagles have eight left and five right. The year 1806 comes in two varieties, eight left and five right as well as seven left and six right. All quarter eagles within this span are rare. Apart from the addition of stars to the obverse, the motifs are the same as on the previous issue.

While a few Uncirculated examples are known of scattered dates, most quarter eagles known within this date span grade from Very Fine to Extremely Fine, with Very Fine being the norm. In keeping with other gold coins, mint-caused planchet adjustment marks are often seen as are areas of light striking.