Turban Head Quarter Eagle

Posted by Stephen Halkovic on May 31, 2012

Coin	Weight (g)	Composition	Gold Melt Value	Full Melt Value
Turban Head (1796-1807)	4.37	Gold 91.70%, Copper 5.81%, Silver 2.29%

GP US 1796 2.50 No Stars on obverse3 300x150 Turban Head Quarter Eagle

1796 Capped Bust Right No Stars on Obverse

The “Capped Bust Right” or “Turban Head” Quarter Eagles were one of the first gold coins authorized by the United States Congress for the US Mint to produce. However they were minted in 1796 a year after the Half Eagle and Eagle gold coins were first struck. The numbers produced were low and most of them remained in the treasure vault.

Regardless they were minted with the “Turban Head” design in 1796, 1797, 1798, then in 1802, and 1804 through 1807. Only 19,487 were produced during this series run, with only a few thousand surviving, making all them scarce and very collectable. In 1808 they were redesigned and struck for that year only that they were discontinued until 1821 brought in a third design.

These quarter eagles are all reeded, have a diameter of 20 millimeters, weigh 4.37 grams (67.5 grains), are composed of 91.7% gold and the remaining 8.3% is of copper and silver. These were designed by Robert Scot and there are a number of varieties of this design.

The very first is the 1796 “Without Stars on the Obverse”. This variety simply has Liberty’s draped bust facing right, with flowing hair, and wearing a cap which is often referred to as a “Turban”. The date is directly under her along the rim of the coin. “LIBERTY” arches above her along the upper rim.

GP US 1796 2.50 with Starsr 300x153 Turban Head Quarter Eagle

1796 Capped Bust Right with Stars

The rest of the series have stars on the obverse and these continue encircling Liberty along the rim of the coins. The numbers vary depending on year and sometimes due to the variety. The 1796 has 16 stars, eight on the right and eight on the left. This number reflects of state at the time.

The reverse has the “Large Eagle” and is derived from the Presidential Seal. The bald eagle has wings and legs spread wide with a large “national” shield over its breast. Its right talon clutches a bunch of arrows and the left talon an olive branch. The 1798 has two varieties; on with four berries, or “closed date”, and the other with five berries, or “wide date”, on this olive branch.

A banner hangs from the eagle’s beak which reads “E PLURIBUS UNUM”. Above this, around the eagle’s head, and between its wings is a field of stars. The number of stars varies depending on the date, the 1796 has sixteen stars. Arching above the stars is a band of clouds. Then encircling the rest of the coin along the rim is the legend “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”.

1798 Turban Head Quarter Eagle 5 berry/opened date

It was not uncommon for dies to be reused from one year to the next. That would explain some irregularities that are apparent with this series. For instance the 1797 dated coins have thirteen stars on the obverse, seven on the left and six on the right, however the reverse has sixteen. The 1797 also was the smallest mintage being only 427 and no more than thirty are known to have survived.

Also all of the 1802 are over strikes of the 1801. No 1801 coins were struck. All of the 1806 coins are also over strikes and the stars on the reverse also vary. The obverse of the 1806/4 has eight stars on the right of Liberty and five on her left while the 1806/5 has seven on the right and six on the left.

The 1804 dates have either thirteen or fourteen stars on the reverse, only a dozen or so of those with thirteen stars on the reverse are known to still exist which makes it truly scarce.