MELT VALUES / GOLD
$2.50 Gold Quarter Eagle (–1929)
Melt value now SNAPSHOT
$557
222.9× face value
Designer
Bela Lyon Pratt (Indian Head, 1908); Christian Gobrecht (Liberty, 1840)
Years struck
1796–1929
Mints
Philadelphia, Charlotte (C), Dahlonega (D), New Orleans (O), San Francisco (S), Denver (D)
Small coins, small mintages — many dates under 100k.
THE STORY
The quarter eagle was America's small gold coin for 133 years. Pratt's 1908 Indian Head design is unique in US coinage: the design is sunk *into* the coin (incuse) rather than raised — critics of the day claimed the recesses would harbor germs. All pre-1933 gold survived Roosevelt's Executive Order 6102 only by luck, export, or collector exemption, which is why survivors trade well above their 0.121 ozt melt.
The incuse Indians are the only US coins with no raised rim — they stack like poker chips.
KEY DATES WORTH REAL MONEY
Check these before treating any gold piece as melt.
| 1911-D Indian | 55,680 — the Indian series key |
| 1848 CAL. | Struck from the first California gold — a five-to-six-figure historical trophy |
Think you have one? Check recent auction records before selling — and read our grading basics first.
SPECIFICATIONS
Grading: where wear shows first
On incuse Indians, wear shows on the cheekbone and headdress feathers - tricky to grade because nothing protrudes.
Never clean a coin. Ever. Cleaning permanently destroys collector value — dark original toning is worth more than shiny damage.
Counterfeit check
Pre-1933 gold is counterfeit country - the quarter eagle especially, because small size makes tooling easier. Weight 4.18 g exactly; certify anything expensive.
Gear that settles it: an electromagnetic verifier, a calibrated scale and calipers — counterfeit basics.
QUESTIONS PEOPLE ACTUALLY ASK
Is a $2.50 gold piece a good investment?
It is 0.121 ozt of gold (~$557 melt) plus collector premium. Worn common dates track gold; better dates and grades are numismatic assets. Never sell one at melt without checking the date.
Coin image: Wikimedia Commons — Public domain — US Mint (coin), National Numismatic Collection (photograph by Jaclyn Nash).
