1850-O Liberty Seated Quarter. Briggs 1-B. MS-63 (PCGS). CAC.

1850-O Liberty Seated Quarter. Briggs 1-B. MS-63 (PCGS). CAC.，Offered is a wonderfully original and exceptionally well preserved 1850-O quarter, a conditionally challenging New Orleans Mint issue. Both sides are beautifully toned, the obverse in golden-apricot with wisps of blue and pink at the border. The reverse is more boldly patinated with rich cobalt blue and pinkish-apricot undertones to pewter gray toning. The strike is typical of the few high grade 1850-O quarters extant, sharp to full over the devices yet soft at the denticles, the latter feature most pronounced on the obverse. Highly lustrous and satiny, this lovely coin will appeal to advanced Liberty Seated quarter and New Orleans Mint enthusiasts.<p>The Louisiana branch mint managed one final high mintage quarter issue in 1850, before production fell off markedly in 1851 and 1852 due to the effects of the California Gold Rush. The mintage was 412,000 pieces, in keeping with the standards of New Orleans Mint quarter production throughout much of the 1840s. Attrition for the 1850-O was unusually high, however, for not only were many examples worn out and/or lost in circulation, but many were also likely melted for their precious metal content during the run up in silver prices on the world market during the early 1850s. Even AU survivors are elusive, while in Mint State the 1850-O is a significant rarity. It is the sign of the elusiveness of this issue in Uncirculated that Larry Briggs (<em>The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of United States Liberty Seated Quarters</em>, 1991) elevated a small cache of five or six Mint State examples that entered the market circa 1986 to the status of a hoard. The present example predates that find. Both the well preserved surfaces and gorgeous toning suggest decades of careful preservation on the part of past generations of numismatists.<p>，From the A.J. Vanderbilt Collection. Acquired from Stacks, November 1973.，