MS-64 1893 Isabella Quarter Dollar

I have wanted one of these for such a long time, but never had the opportunity to pick up a decent one at a price I thought was reasonable, until now. When it comes to classic commemoratives, these are sometimes overlooked, which is a shame because it is a really beautiful coin.

Not only is it the only strictly commemorative US Quarter ever made, but I also believe that it is the first depiction of an actual real life woman on a US coin... Yes, I know live models were used for the Liberties on many US coins, but they did not depict an actual human but rather an allegorical representation of a "Goddess". But this coin depicts an actual Queen, Isabella I of Castille.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Pretty coin.

 

Agreed, pretty and a nice pick up

 

Nice coin! She's an expensive one also, no?

 

Yeah, a pretty penny. Not quite as expensive as a Lafayette Dollar or a Spanish Trail, but in MS-64 she's definitely not cheap.

 

Yeah, I got mine cheap because it's an AU-Details coin (Improperly cleaned).

 

I'd like to get one someday too, as a Barber coin (reverse from a sketch by Morgan). This quote from wikipedia cracked me up.

"The event [Columbian Exposition] had been authorised by Congress two years previously; that legislation created a Board of Lady Managers and a Board of Gentleman Managers to oversee the fair. The Board of Lady Managers was headed by Bertha Palmer, whose husband Potter owned the Palmer House, the leading hotel in Chicago. The decisions of the Lady Managers were often reversed by their male counterparts on controversial matters: for example, Palmer sought to shut the fair's "Egyptian Girls" dancing show after deeming it obscene. The show was one of the exposition's few successful moneymakers, and the Lady Managers were overruled by the men."

Dudes will be dudes. I'm picturing what a troupe of Egyptian dancing girls looked like in 1892. Juxtaposed with this objection from Mint Director Leech - "Leech was not fully satisfied with the proposal, stating that the juxtaposition of Isabella on the obverse and the Morgan reverse was 'too much woman'." No such thing as too much woman, Mr. Leech.

 

The Palmer House is still a leading Chicago hotel - I used to work around the corner from it in another building built for the Columbian Exposition - https://www.chicagoathletichotel.com/

Here's my Isabella - XF Details, harshly cleaned. But the price reflected the condition, so I don't complain.

 

Very nice Isabella, @Salient. These have increased in price pretty significantly since 2019 when I bought mine, shown below.

 

It's a great coin and one of my favorite commemoratives. Your example is beautiful.

Bruce

 

The of Lady Managers and the Board of Gentlemen Managers each received a $10,000 stipend from the Federal Government. The ladies took theirs in the form of 40,000 Isabella Quarters which they intended to sell for more than 25 cents. Some were sold for as little as 35 cents. It sounded like a good idea, but from what I have read, the ladies didn’t do a great job of marketing the coins. They did not sell well.

In the end Mrs. Palmer recused 10,000 of the quarters from the melting pot. Coin collectors should be forever grateful to her for that.

 

I let this one go a while back.

 

Oh, I forgot to add, this is the first quarter made by the US I've ever bought.

I've owned everything from half a cent to double eagles, but until now I had never in my 27+ years of collecting ever bought a quarter.

 

LOL. Don't know what to say about that. ??

 

Very Nice Izzy!

 

Nice!

 

Congrats, that's a beautiful coin

 

One of my favorites as well.
This one started as Unc Details Questionable Color and on the next try got an AU 58 grade.

 

Still, Nice toning!