1854 Gold Quarter - BG-220, Defiant Eagle

Coin Details

Auction Record

$59,800 MS63 09-07-2009 Goldberg Auctioneers

Description

The 1854 California Fractional Gold Quarter Dollar (BG-220) is a round gold piece measuring approximately 10 to 11 millimeters in diameter — smaller than a modern dime. Produced during the early California Gold Rush era, this diminutive coin served as genuine small-denomination money in San Francisco and the surrounding mining regions, where the scarcity of federal small coinage created strong demand for locally produced gold pieces. The obverse features the distinctive Defiant Eagle design — an eagle with wings raised in an aggressive or protective posture — which is one of the rarer design types encountered on California fractional gold quarters. The reverse carries the denomination marking. The remarkably diminutive size is one of the distinctive hallmarks of California fractional gold coinage, making these among the smallest coins ever struck for genuine commerce and adding a novelty that has long attracted collectors. Among the smallest coins produced for genuine circulation in American history, California fractional gold pieces from this era reflect the inventiveness and entrepreneurial spirit of Gold Rush-era San Francisco. Multiple jewelers and coiners competed to supply the market with these tiny coins, each using their own die designs and gold alloys. The resulting variety of types, as cataloged in the Breen-Gillio reference, provides a rich field for numismatic study and has sustained collector interest for well over a century.

Rarity Notes

Scarce to rare. First-period California fractional gold coins survive in smaller numbers than their Period Two counterparts, reflecting lower original mintages and the attrition of circulation. The Defiant Eagle design is one of the scarcer obverse types in the California fractional gold series.

Cross References

BG-220; Breen-Gillio catalog; PCGS #10405; NGC #501220; California Fractional Gold Quarter Dollar; Round; Period One (1852–1858); Eagle type