With a mintage of just 6,738 coins and a total of 471 grading events recorded between PCGS (333) and NGC (138), the 1804 Draped Bust quarter is a key date in the four-year series. After an eight-year hiatus, the U.S. Mint revitalized the quarter denomination with the introduction of this 1804 issue, which displayed the heraldic eagle design on the reverse. Representing one of the most romanticized years in American coinage, collector demand for this issue is consistently high.
We have had the opportunity to sell mid- to high-grade 1804 Draped Bust quarters over the course of the firm’s history, including the MS-64 D. Brent Pogue specimen. Up until now, though, we have not offered the lowest-graded example of this sought-after date. Low-ball collectors and early quarter specialists alike will have great interest in the 1804 Draped Bust quarter (Browning-1, R-3), graded Poor-01 by PCGS found in lot 93212 of our February Collectors Choice Online Auction. Though much of the coin’s obverse details are completely worn off by wear, the upper and lower portions of Liberty’s portrait and several letters in “LIBERTY” are visible, as is one-third of the stars and the date. On the reverse, only the corner of the left wing, a few clouds, and two of the 13 stars are discernible, along with the last two to three letters of “UNITED.” Some dark cobalt toning along the coin’s circumference makes for a pleasing look. It is the sole example of the 1804 quarter graded PO-01 by either major grading service.
Impressively, the cataloger was able to attribute the die marriage of the coin to Browning-1, which is the more frequently encountered of the two known die pairings. The primary diagnostic in determining if the coin can be attributed to Browning-1 versus Browning-2 is the presence of a deep die scratch on the obverse in between stars 8 and 9. Despite the considerable surface wear and, in some areas, surface damage, the die scratch between stars 8 and 9 is still evident on the coin’s obverse.
Stay tuned as this and over 610 other U.S coins crosses the block on February 7, 2024, in one of our popular Collectors Choice Auctions. View the entire sale at StacksBowers.com.
