Capped Bust Right Gold Quarter Eagle (1796-1807)
The Capped Bust to Right Quarter Eagles are a few of the very earliest editions of the world renowned coin. Having been designed by Robert Scot, it had a mintage that ran for just over a decade, from 1796 into 1807. Unlike the coins of today, these Gold Eagles were produced in exceptionally limited quantities. As if the age of the coins was not enough to promote its collectible value, this extreme rarity is what allows this coin to have values that reach nearly 1 million dollars.
Though each of these coins is incredibly difficult to find on the open marketplace, the later year versions are the most common. In terms of styling and design, the coins with no stars on the obverse side had the largest production run, sitting at 963. The Capped Bust Right Gold Quarter Eagles with the lower print run did include stars on the obverse, and these coins had a total of 432 in circulation.
The most common version of this coin was minted in 1798, two years after the stars/no stars on obverse releases. These coins come in two different forms, known as Close Date and Wide Date. On the Close Date coins, the "1978" is not touching the bottom of the design, whereas the Wide Date coins flow into the bottom section of the head without any space in between. Between these two types of 1978 Capped Bust coins, there was a total of 1,094 originally available on the market. In the middle of these coins is the 1797 edition, of which 427 were produced.
Characteristics of Capped Bust Right Gold Quarter Eagles
Since these coins are very, very old, you should not expect to find many of them in prime condition. In fact, you should be vary wary if you run into any of these coins that are not certified and/or graded.
Because of the quality in the minting process at this point in time, many of these coins were not minted with the highest grade strikes. As a result, the Capped Bust Eagles will often times not have clear markings and illustrations, at least in parts of the coin.
Value of Capped Bust Gold Quarter Eagle Coins
Capped Bust to Right coins from this era can have very significant valuations. The trouble with reaching the upper tier of this range is that 200+ year old coins are going to seldom grade very highly.
If you are somehow lucky enough to run across a perfect piece, you have landed a gold mine. In MS-64 condition, this coin can be worth over 1 million dollars. In all likelihood, however, this coin will be worth $30,000-$100,000. Even without prime condition, this coin is almost always worth a fortune.
