Since the suspension of specie payments by the banks, the writer has heard of a little club of lads estimating the value of a quarter dollar. — Anonymous pamphlet during the Panic of 1837This is a gem of a very different quality from the example offered above, clearly intended as a circulation strike and exhibiting remarkable satiny luster on both sides. Richly toned, with dark olive at the periphery while the devices are aglow with gold and traces of rose. Somewhat softly struck in areas, including Libertys cap, the forelock, a few star centers at left obverse, and the eagles talons. A natural planchet striation is present in the upper left reverse, stretching to the eagles lower beak, and some raised parallel die polish lines are visible in the lower reverse field, but careful examination reveals no hairlines or marks of note. The technical quality is a match for the superb visual appeal. The fine die crack that descends from cap to ear through the lower left base of R in LIBERTY is present, but no clash marks are seen.Silver coinage was rarely seen in circulation in 1837 after the late spring decision by most banks to suspend specie payments, a failed effort to thwart a bank panic that, instead, served to deepen its effect for ordinary citizens. Silver coins were saved and hoarded for years, selling at a premium when only specie (silver and gold coins) would be accepted, and not released back into circulation at their nominal value again for several years. A coin like this is probably a relic of those troubled days, saved the instant it left the Mint but never released back into circulation even after the economic troubles had passed.One of just two specimens graded MS-67 by PCGS for the entire date, a truly spectacular coin. It was called possibly the finest known 1837 Capped Bust Quarter when it was purchased in 1990 and placed into the Knoxville Collection. That description remains accurate 25 years later, tied for finest certified with the example in the previous lot. If the example offered above is deemed an unrecognized (or, perhaps, at least an uncertified) Proof, this coin alone wears the laurel of finest known. Its next closest competitor, the Gene Gardner PCGS MS-66+, brought $76,375 in 2014. By way of comparison, this piece sold for $42,000 a quarter century ago, at a time when truly impressive gem pieces of this type could be had for a few thousand dollars. This is counted as the finest known business strike in the Rea-Koenings-Hartounian census, a place it deserves on its aesthetic as well as its technical merits.
