1806 Quarter Pattern - J-38a, "1806", Private Restrike Stk Over Matron Head 1C

Coin Details

Auction Record

$10,063 Fr 09-06-2009 Goldberg Auctioneers

Description

Cataloged as Judd-38a, this unusual piece is a private restrike created outside the Mint using retired quarter dollar dies from 1806, overstruck on a Matron Head large cent. The obverse carries the Draped Bust design by Robert Scot with the Heraldic Eagle reverse — the standard quarter dollar type of 1804-1807. Being struck over an existing coin, traces of the underlying large cent are visible beneath the quarter dollar impressions. The regular-issue 1806 quarter dollars saw accelerated production that year, with four delivery batches from May through July. Six obverse dies were paired with eight reverse dies to create ten known die marriages (Browning varieties). Among these, B-2, B-3, and B-9 are relatively common, while B-4 through B-7 and B-10 are scarce, and B-8 is genuinely rare. The 1806 date is popular among type collectors as a representative example of the Draped Bust/Heraldic Eagle quarter. This Judd-38a restrike, however, is a very different proposition — a fantasy piece created privately from salvaged Mint dies, produced in the 1860s when collectors such as Joseph J. Mickley were known to have acquired and struck from surplus dies.