Iridescent olive-gold and turquoise enhance lovely brilliant surfaces. Faint prooflike reflectivity in the fields contrasts with the frosty texture of the design elements. Subtle die lines are seen behind the right obverse stars and similar polishing surrounds the lower shield and arrow shafts on the reverse; a crack can be seen skirting atop the final three letters of UNITED. The surfaces are smooth and free from distractions.The arrows that accompany the date and the rays that surround the eagle indicate decreased weight from the previous standard, a change enacted to discourage the melting that had plagued silver coinage since the California Gold Rush. Entrepreneurial citizens seized the opportunity to convert their older and heavier coinage without arrows into bullion. The great demand for coins of the new standard forced the Mint to increase production to compensate. The resulting mintage of 15 million coins was the greatest in the history of the quarter dollar to that point. Even so, just a few dozen pieces survive in gem condition, with this piece ranking near the top.
