1853 Arrows And Rays Quarter For Grading

By early 1850s the gold discovery in California had caused in imbalance in the price of silver relative to gold. All of the silver coins that the U.S. Mint system had issued up to that point, with the exception of the tiny Silver Three Cent Piece, had a melt value that exceeded their face value. In response Congress authorized a reduction in the weight of every silver coin except the silver dollar. That exception probably reflected a misguided notion that preserving the weight of the flagship silver coin would insure its integrity. All it did was make the silver dollar less likely to be seen in circulation.

To show that the new Half Dimes, dimes, quarter and half dollars had lower weights, the mint system placed arrows to the right and left of the date. In addition rays were placed around the eagle on the reverse of the quarter and half dollars. This feature would only appear on the quarter and half dollar in 1853 thus creating a one year type.

The 1853 Arrows and Rays quarters and half dollars are fairly common coins because their mintages were quite high for the period. Yet both of these coins are scarce in strictly Mint State condition. One reason for this scarcity is few people thought to save them because 1853 was four years short of the collector boom that started in the United States after the passing of the large cent. Therefore a lot of these coins got just a brush of wear which leaves them just short of Mint condition. Another reason why these coins are scarce in Choice Mint State (MS-63 or better) is that they were struck from "tired dies" due to their high mintages.

At any rate is an 1853 Arrows and Rays quarter for your review. What do you think it grades?