United States: 1834 gold Classic Head quarter eagle ($2.50)

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by lordmarcovan, Jan 29, 2026 at 2:03 AM.

  1. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic numismatist Moderator

    United States: 1834 gold Classic Head quarter eagle ($2.50)

    PCGS XF40. Cert. #39396094.

    Numista-55092, Krause-Mishler-56.

    Mintage: 112,234.

    Ex-Michael Swoveland, dba WNC Coins, LLC, Asheville, NC, 27 April 2021. Purchased in the slab.

    I've always liked Classic Head gold, mostly because the quarter-eagles and half-eagles of this type are the earliest US gold coins I've ever been able to afford. Before 1834, United States gold coins get prohibitively expensive for the average working class collector! At the time of this writing (January 2026), this coin has more than doubled in value over the price I paid for it. The steep rise of gold prices no doubt had plenty to do with that, but there's some numismatic premium here as well.

    This is only the second Classic Head quarter-eagle I've owned, and the previous example was a holed piece, which I wore on my formerly-famous "Holey Gold Hat".

    I'm not delighted with the darkish PCGS TrueView images, but they were shot after certification, through the slab plastic, as were all of the photos below.

    01-frame.png 02-Trueview.png 06-obv.png 07-rev.png 08-slab.png

    060000
     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2026 at 2:57 AM
    lordmarcovan, Jan 29, 2026 at 2:03 AM
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  3. SensibleSal66

    SensibleSal66 U.S Casual Collector / Error Collector

    WoW. She's a beauty! Being an XF40, this one has seen some things or so we would hope. Can you imagine walking around with this back in the day. I wonder how much one would have to work in say a sawmill or some other blue-collar job. I read a story about a mill owner that only paid his workers in gold coins. Can you imagine? :)
     
    SensibleSal66, Jan 29, 2026 at 2:26 AM
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  4. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic numismatist Moderator

    I looked up what $2.50 in 1834 was equivalent in to in purchasing power in 2026 dollars, and that equates to about $94.22 today. So this one smallish coin likely represented several day's wages at the time. Woe to someone who lost it!
     
    lordmarcovan, Jan 29, 2026 at 2:32 AM
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  5. SensibleSal66

    SensibleSal66 U.S Casual Collector / Error Collector

    I hate getting older. I can't remember where I saw that. ?? It might have been in a Western/ Eastern treasure magazine which is no longer running anymore. I doubt a common worker would make that much in a month probably. I'll have to research that. Hmm.......:brb:. LOL.
     
    SensibleSal66, Jan 29, 2026 at 2:39 AM
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  6. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic numismatist Moderator

    I used to love that magazine. I remember when a local buddy of mine was featured in the Ten Best Finds one year. (Unfortunately I don't recall what it was that he found to win that. He used to find some amazing stuff.)

    No, I doubt a quarter-eagle like this would represent a whole month's wages for a common worker. But a few days, maybe.
     
    lordmarcovan, Jan 29, 2026 at 2:41 AM
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  7. Tall Paul

    Tall Paul Supporter! Supporter

    I think it could represent a months wages. $3 a day would be a princely sum.
     
    Tall Paul, Jan 29, 2026 at 8:24 AM
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  8. The Meat man

    The Meat man Supporter! Supporter

    Beautiful gold coin!
     
    The Meat man, Jan 29, 2026 at 8:27 AM
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  9. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    From a bit of googling, a dollar a day was a male laborer's wage at that time. Women earned a half to a quarter as much. Artisans, perhaps double that.
     
    -jeffB, Jan 29, 2026 at 1:13 PM
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  10. Mr.Q

    Mr.Q Well-Known Member

    Glad we invested in precious metals early on, today's prices are outrageous. Go with the flow is guess, not me though I'll sit back and watch for now.
     
    Mr.Q, Jan 29, 2026 at 1:32 PM
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  11. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    In Canada a skilled carpenter got paid 25 cents an hr in 1932, building Chateau Montebello. So thats $3.00 a day, people worked 12 hrs a day then. For comparision to today a skilled carpenter makes $140.00 hr.
    For me a gardener/ lawn maintenance guy, I don't charge hrly, I am to efficient. At the end of the day, I make average $150 @ hr. X 90 average hrs a week= $13,500 a week.
    Thus, if paid in gold coins two old Double Eagles=2oz gold= 13.5 Can. $:) or a 20 Dukaten gold piece in 1741 Basel. That beauty sold for 1.2M sfrcs in Sincona. b0f402acc2d368a5fcf31aa4f0d63b5d (6).jpg
     
    panzerman, Jan 29, 2026 at 2:09 PM
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  12. fretboard

    fretboard Defender of Old Coinage!

    Exactly, same thinking as you! thumbsup.gif Unfortunately I sold my quarter eagle but here's my half eagle, again not as nice as yours and cleaned a tad harshly, but still I'm happy to have it! thumbupp.gif

    1126650d.JPEG 1126650h.JPEG 1126650g.JPEG
     
    fretboard, Jan 29, 2026 at 3:00 PM
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  13. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic numismatist Moderator

    lordmarcovan, Jan 29, 2026 at 3:15 PM
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  14. Eduard

    Eduard Supporter**

    Nice early U.S gold!
    another nice coin.

    As you say, the earliest U.S gold issues are pretty much unreachable for most of us.
    The best I have is this branch-mint half eagle.

    1851 O 5 Five Dollars - OBV:REV - VGP 2023.png
     
    Eduard, Jan 29, 2026 at 3:23 PM
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