In 1807 Mint Director Robert Patterson hired John Reich, an engraver trained in Bavaria, to redesign the coinage, and Reich began work on April 1 of that year. His capped bust of Liberty facing left appeared first on the 1807 half dollar and half eagle. Chief Engraver Robert Scot was in failing health, and when the quarter eagle was next needed, early in 1808, it was struck to Reich's design.
All of it was made in one day. The Mint struck 2,710 quarter eagles on February 26, 1808, from a single pair of dies, and coined no more that year. Quarter eagles were made only to order, and depositors of gold preferred the half eagle. When the War of 1812 began, American gold was shipped abroad in quantity, and no one asked for quarter eagles again until 1821. By then Scot had adapted Reich's portrait for a smaller coin, and the 1808 design was not used again.
The surviving coins share a weak border, which left their rims exposed to wear; Walter Breen suggested this as a reason so many are worn or damaged.
