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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Clinker, post: 205962, member: 6229&quot;]Did you know there were two types of Liberty Head Quarter Eagle gold pieces struck by the Philadelphia Mint?</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><font face="Verdana"><font size="2">On January 24, 1848, James Wilson Marshall noticed some small flakes of yellow metal near Sutter&#039;s Mill outside Coloma, California. Marshall&#039;s discovery turned out to be gold, touching off one of the California Gold Rush.</font></font></p><p><font face="Verdana"><font size="2">&nbsp;</font></font></p><p><font face="Verdana"><font size="2"></font></font><font face="Verdana"><font size="2">In December 1848, the Military Governor of California (Col. R.B. Mason) sent 228 ounces of gold to the Secretary of War, William L. Marcy. Marcy forwarded the gold to the Philadelphia Mint, with instructions to use it to make Congressional Medals for Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. Any leftover gold was to be turned into specially marked Quarter Eagles. 1,389 1848-dated Quarter Eagles were struck from the California gold shipment, each one stamped with a small &quot;CAL&quot; in the upper reverse field. The stamping appears to have been done while the coins were still in the press, as none of the obverse features appear to have been flattened.</font></font></p><p><font face="Verdana"><font size="2">&nbsp;</font></font></p><p><font face="Verdana"><font size="2"><br /></font></font></p><p><font face="Verdana"><font size="2"></font></font><font face="Times New Roman">The mint produced 7,497 regular 1848 business strikes and five proofs.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman"></font>Here&#039;s the reverse of the regular 1848 $2 1/2: <a href="http://www.coinfacts.com/quarter_eagles/liberty_head_quarter_eagles/1848_quarter_eagle_rev.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coinfacts.com/quarter_eagles/liberty_head_quarter_eagles/1848_quarter_eagle_rev.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://www.coinfacts.com/quarter_eagles/liberty_head_quarter_eagles/1848_quarter_eagle_rev.jpg</a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>As previously stated, 1,389 coins were struck with &quot;CAL&quot; on the reverse for circulation. No proofs were struck.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Here&#039;s the 1848 CAL $2 1/2 reverse: <a href="http://www.coinfacts.com/quarter_eagles/liberty_head_quarter_eagles/1848_quarter_eagle_cal_rev.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coinfacts.com/quarter_eagles/liberty_head_quarter_eagles/1848_quarter_eagle_cal_rev.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://www.coinfacts.com/quarter_eagles/liberty_head_quarter_eagles/1848_quarter_eagle_cal_rev.jpg</a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Clinker[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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