1840 Liberty Seated Quarter. Drapery. Briggs 1-A. MS-66 * (NGC).An extraordinary upper end Gem, the single finest certified example of this underrated condition rarity among early date Liberty Seated quarters. The obverse offers especially deep and vivid toning with a target-like distribution to steel-blue, antique copper and reddish-rose colors. The central reverse remains largely brilliant within a halo of soft tan-apricot and power blue peripheral iridescence. Frosty surfaces are lustrous and smooth with razor sharp to full striking detail throughout the design.<p>As a quick perusal of our online archives will show, the 1840 Drapery is the rarest of the three Liberty Seated quarter issues of that date in Mint State preservation. The 1840-O No Drapery and, to a lesser extent, 1840-O Drapery benefited from the inclusion of a fair number of uncirculated coins in the New Orleans Hoard unearthed in 1982. Fortune was not so kind to the 1840 Drapery, however, and there are no known hoards of this issue. When we further consider that there was essentially no numismatic demand for circulation strike coinage among the few collectors active in the Northeast during the 1840s, it is easy to understand why so few examples of this issue escaped the rigors of commercial use. This is the finest that we have ever encountered, and it is highly recommended for inclusion in a top-flight Liberty Seated quarter set.PCGS# 5397. NGC ID: 23SH.NGC Census: 1; 0 finer. PCGS does not report an example finer than MS-65.Ex Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society; Heritages sale of the Eric P. Newman Collection, Part II, November 2013, lot 33362; Heritages sale of the Eugene H. Gardner Collection, Part III, May 2015, lot 98330; Heritages Long Beach Signature Auction of February 2016, lot 3182; Heritages CSNS Signature Auction of April-May 2016, lot 4615.
