1831 Capped Bust Quarter. B-4. Rarity-1. Small Letters. MS-64+ (PCGS). CAC. This richly original example possesses that charming "old world" appearance that todays sophisticated collectors consider mandatory for top quality classic U.S. Mint silver coinage. The reverse is evenly toned in steel-blue with intermingled blushes of antique gold and pale rose. Bisecting bands of similar colors adorn the upper obverse and lower reverse, from where they frame a center toned in softer pearl-gray and pinkish-apricot patina. Billowy satin luster throughout, with a sharply executed strike that further confirms this coin as an outstanding representative of the type, date and die pairing.<p>Beginning in 1831, after the adoption of several critical improvements in its coinage process, the Mint struck its first quarter dollars of smaller diameter with a raised border. These improvements required a modification of the basic Capped Bust design (by Engraver William Kneass) that included a refined obverse portrait and the removal of the scroll and associated Latin motto E PLURIBUS UNUM from the reverse. This reduced diameter Capped Bust type would remain in production through 1838, when it was supplanted by Christian Gobrechts Liberty Seated design. Although more readily obtainable than its large diameter predecessors of 1815 to 1828, the reduced diameter Capped Bust quarter is scarce in Mint State as a type, and rare in grades that approach Gem Uncirculated, as here.
