1843-C $2.50 Large Date (Regular Strike)

Doug Winter: The 1843-C Large Date is the more common of the two varieties of quarter eagle produced at the Charlotte Mint during this year. It was struck after the 1843-C Small Date and has a significantly larger-sized date with a Plain 4. It also has a larger mintmark than seen on the 1843-C Small Date. These two issues have long been recognized as separate, distinct varieties. A set of Charlotte quarter eagles is not considered complete without the inclusion of both varieties produced in 1843.

The 1843-C Large Date is reasonably common coin in lower grades. It is most often seen in the VF20 to EF40 range. It is not as easy to locate in the AU grades as some collectors might think, and properly graded AU55 to AU58 coins are scarce. In Uncirculated, it is very rare although there are as many as three known in MS64 and a single Gem example currently known...

STRIKE: All known examples are softly struck at the center of the obverse. The weakness is most noticeable on the curls around the face. The letters ERTY in LIBERTY are often very weak and the tops may appear to be indistinct. The periphery is sharper with most of the stars fully detailed and with the denticles sharply impressed. The central reverse is also weak, particularly on top of the eagle’s right leg and the juncture of the right wing and the shield. The lettering and the denticles are sharp.

SURFACES: This issue is often seen with very heavily abraded surfaces. This is compounded by the fact that some come with mint-made roughness or with granularity in the fields.

LUSTER: The luster is well above average for this series. High grade 1843-C Large Date quarter eagles, often have pleasing bright, frosty luster. This can be especially pleasing on pieces that do not show the aforementioned roughness in the fields.

COLORATION: Uncleaned, original pieces have medium to deep orange-gold coloration. It is hard to locate pieces which have not been stripped of their natural hues.

EYE APPEAL: Weak strikes plague this issue and make it difficult to find pleasing coins. That said, there are a few really superb examples known and these are among the finest Charlotte quarter eagles that survive from the 1840s.

DIE CHARACTERISTICS: Small clusters of raised die scratches can be seen below and to the right of the first stars, below the 18 in the date and left of and below the final star. All known examples show a recut date and mintmark.

DIE VARIETIES: One die variety is known.

Variety 1 (formerly Variety 5-D): The 8 in the date is strongly doubled to the south while the 1, 4 and 3 are doubled to the north. The 1 is very close to the bust and to the denticles. The 3 touches the bust and is close to the denticles. The reverse was used only in 1843. The mintmark is large and it shows recutting along its outside left arc while its serif is very close to the branch. The feathers extend through the center of the mintmark. The fraction bar extends to the right quarter of the mintmark. It is the same distance from the talon and the fraction bar and it is further from the 1 than it is from either the talon or the fraction bar.

David Akers (1975/88): Considerably more common than the 1843-C Small Date in lower grades, but equally difficult to obtain in choice condition. I would estimate that two-thirds or more of the total mintage of 26,064 pieces were of this variety. The specimens that I have seen have a recut date and mintmark, but I am not sure whether this is characteristic of all known examples. The mintmark is much larger than on the Charlotte Mint quarter eagles from 1840 to 1842 and the 1843-C Small Date. The large C mintmark is used on all subsequent Charlotte Mint quarter eagles.

Gordon Wrubel: Quickfinder notes: The Large Date has a PLAIN crossbar on the 4. Large thick date punches were used. The 1 of the date almost touches the truncation and the dentils. The Small Date has a crosslet 4 and the 1 is well clear of the truncation and the dentils.