1863 25C MS66 Certification #46222943, PCGS #5458

1863 Liberty Seated Quarter. Breen 1-A. MS-66 (PCGS). CAC. A handsome coin that displays gently mottled olive-russet and sandy-silver patina to soft, satiny mint luster. There is modest semi-reflectivity in the fields, as well as undertones of iridescent champagne-pink, powder blue and antique gold. Fully struck with smooth surfaces, just right for the assigned Gem grade. This challenging Philadelphia Mint issue has a circulation strike mintage of just 191,600 pieces. Survivors are scarce, indicative of the fact that silver coinage did not see commercial use in the East and Midwest during the Civil War and early Reconstruction eras. Some 1863 quarters that were not melted entered circulation beginning in the mid 1870s, accounting for the occasional worn survivor in today's market. Mint State examples are even more elusive, the present Gem numbering among the finest that we have ever offered. Provenance: From the Collection of James Allaire Millholland, 1842-1911. PCGS Population: 9; 3 finer (all MS-66+). CAC Population: 6; 0.

Ron Guth

1863 saw a precipitous decline in the mintage of the Quarter Dollars, signalling the start of a more gradual drop-off that lasted for the next decade.  In fact, the next time that a mintage would exceed that of the 1863 was in 1873, when a change in the weight of the silver coins forced a renewed effort to make replacement Quarters for those removed from circulation. 

Even with its reduced mintage, the 1863 is not a particularly rare coin.  Several dozen Mint State examples are known, ranging in grades from MS61 to MS66, with most examples appearing in MS64 and MS65.  The finest example is a single MS66+.