The 1878 Coronet Type Liberty Head Quarter Eagle U.S. Gold Coin

Lady Liberty is depicted, surrounded by the thirteen stars which represent the original thirteen U.S. colonies. The most interesting thing about this coin is the way the face value is expressed on the reverse as "2 1/2 D." There is an interesting variety of this type minted in 1848, where the letters CAL were stamped above the eagle's head on the reverse, to signify that the gold used in minting the coins had come from California gold mines. The 1878 specimen shown here was graded MS-63 by NGC, and sold for $1,500.00 in June of 2006.