Vivid toning joins exceptional technical quality to establish this as one of the finest 1856-O quarters extant. Splashed with gorgeous pale gold, cobalt blue and reddish-pink iridescence, the surfaces exhibit a base of lighter antique silver tinting. Satiny in texture and boldly to sharply struck in most areas, a virtually pristine appearance further differentiates this coin from virtually all other survivors of this challenging Southern silver issue.A generous mintage of 968,000 coins for a pre-Civil War quarter masks the rarity of the 1856-O in the finer circulated and all Mint State grades. Seeing extensive commercial use during an era when there was essentially no contemporary numismatic interest in mintmarked coinage, the typically encountered survivor is well worn. Thanks to the respectable mintage, the 1856-O is actually quite plentiful toward the lower reaches of the numismatic grading scale, levels such as Good and VG. On the other hand few AU coins are known, and Mint State survivors are so rare as to merit a Rarity-6+ rating in Larry Briggs 1991 Liberty Seated quarter encyclopedia. Writing more recently, Q. David Bowers (2016) provides a more specific estimate of only 11 to 16 Uncirculated coins extant. One of several phenomenal Liberty Seated condition rarities offered in this sale, and worthy of a strong bid commensurate with its significance.,,PCGS# 5439. NGC ID: 23TC.,PCGS Population: 3; 0 finer.,
