Small capped bust quarters were minted each year from 1831 to 1838. While this is a very short series to the date collector, to the minor variety collector it becomes a broad and exciting series with 36 discovered die marriages, many with minor variations of their own due to die state and collar changes. Throughout the series, 21 obverse dies and 17 reverse dies have been identified mainly through minor variations in the font and alignment of the date and denomination, as well as through the orientation and size of the stars and arrowheads. The die marriages for this series are identified by Browning numbers (named for Ard W. Browning) and are considered minor varieties. While there are typically two recognized types for this series (Small Letters and Large Letters), there were several design changes throughout the series that I consider to be significant enough to be called major varieties that are not recognized as such. While the Browning minor varieties are definitely only for the specialist in this series, here are what I consider to be the types and major varieties in this series that may be of interest to an advanced collector: Type 1: Small Letters (1831 B-1 through 1831 B-4) The first four die marriages employed in 1831 comprise the recognized Small Letters type, so named due to the small size of the legend text on the reverse. I divide the Small Letters type into two major varieties, noted below. (Small Letters) Berries (1831 B-1) While not officially recognized, I refer to this as the Berries variety. The dies for this marriage (engraved by William Kneass) were the first made for this series. These dies were only used for the 1831 B-1 die marriage and the reverse is distinct in that the branch held by the eagle's left talon has two berries. This feature was a deliberate holdover from the reverse of the large capped bust quarter (1815-1838) engraved by John Reich, but inclusion of the berries was dropped for all later reverses. (Small Letters) No Berries (1831 B-2 through 1831 B-4) While not officially recognized, I refer to this as the No Berries variety. Unlike the 1831 B-1 (Berries), this Small Letters variety has a reverse with no berries on the olive branch. Additionally, the eagle's tongue (which was present on large capped bust quarters) is not present on the Berries variety, but is present on the No Berries variety. After 1831, the eagle's tongue was sporadically engraved, appearing only on a few reverses in 1834, 1835, and 1836. Type 2: Large Letters (1831 B-5 through 1838 B-1) Die marriages B-5 through B-7 for 1831 and all marriages for 1832-1838 are considered to be of the recognized Large Letters type, named for the large legend text on the reverse. (Large Letters) Kneass Reverse (1831 B-5 through 1833 B-1, 1834 B-3 through 1834 B-4, 1835 B-1, 1835 B-3 through 1838 B-1) While not an officially recognized variety, I refer to typical Large Letters quarters as Kneass Reverse quarters (after their engraver William Kneass), to differentiate them from the other major varieties introduced below, both of which were engraved by Christian Gobrecht. (Large Letters) 1833-1834 O/F (1833 B-2 through 1834 B-1) Sometimes considered to be a major variety, the last die marriage of 1833 and the first die marriage of 1834 are known as O/F. The unique reverse on this variety originated from a new reverse master hub, thought to be the work of Christian Gobrecht. While somewhat misleadingly referred to as O/F due to the engraving error in OF on the legend on the reverse (look to the top right of the O), these coins make up an important variety in this series for another reason. Not only is the eagle on this reverse distinctly different from all other reverses in the series, but the stripes on the eagle's shield are comprised of only two lines instead of three. This change was deliberately made to mirror changes made to the dime and half dime done to extend the life of the dies. Ultimately though, the stripe changes were deemed unnecessary and unattractive for the quarter and they reverted back to the three line design starting with the 1834 B-2. Wear patterns on this reverse are different than for other varieties, especially to the left of the shield. (Large Letters) King of Siam (1834 B-2, 1834 B-5, 1835 B-2) While not officially recognized, I refer to this one as the King of Siam variety. It came about from a new reverse master hub (generally attributed to Christian Gobrecht) made for striking the 1834 proof quarter for the King of Siam presentation set. After the proof quarter for this presentation set was struck, this unique die was pressed into use for 3 business strike marriages in 1834 and 1835. The eagle on this reverse is distinctly different from all other reverses in the series, and the stripes on the shield are engraved at a sharper angle than on other reverses. This is also one of few reverses to feature an eagle with a tongue. Wear patterns on this reverse are different than for other varieties. Side-By-Side Comparisons The differences in the reverses are easier to see when placed side-by-side. Small Letters Here are examples of the reverses of the two Small Letters varieties, Berries and No Berries. Note that differences in the arrowheads and denomination are typical for minor varieties in this series and are not relevant for the major variety. Large Letters Here are examples of the eagles produced from the three different reverse hubs over the life of this series, the Kneass reverse, the 1833-1834 O/F (two line stripes) reverse, and the King of Siam reverse, respectively. Note the differences in the wing shapes, angles of the neck, head shapes, stripe positions, and feather positions.
Great write up , and some beautiful coins . Thanks for the different variety explanations . I'll bookmark this thread . I never really looked at Bust quarters as I collect bust halves but they seem to be just as interesting .
Thanks! While I do have high grade examples of all of the coins pictured here, none of these coins are mine. These are just well-struck MS examples with the clearest features I could find.
Those are some beautiful examples and I'm guessing quite expensive. How expensive would a set be to put together in say AU or XF be just as a date set?
A date set in XF would run around $2700. A date set in AU 50-53 would be double that. A date set in AU 55-58 could go as high as triple.
Glad you liked the info. This set is generally underappreciated and only collected for type as part of the full bust quarters set, but it is an interesting set with great variety on its own right.
