Ron Guth:
The 1859-O Quarter Dollar is a semi-scarce issue with the lowest mintage of the 1853-1860 era. In fact, after the 1849-O, the 1851-O, and the 1852-O, this date has the lowest mintage of any O-Mint Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar. Mint State examples are scarce to rare, scattered among the MS61 and MS66 grades. The PCGS CoinFacts Condition Census consists entirely of coins from MS63 to MS66, any of which would fetch strong prices in the marketplace.
The strike quality is excellent for a New Orleans Mint product, but falls short of the Philadelphia issues because of slight weakness in some of the stars and denticles.