The 1827 Capped Bust Quarter (Buy on eBay) has a reported mintage of 4,000 pieces, however this amount appears to be incorrect. No examples struck for circulation have ever been identified, and only around ten proof examples are known to exist. Since the rarity of this issue was realized early on, restrikes were created from the dies still on hand at the Mint. The restrikes can be found on planchets of copper or silver, and even overstruck on an 1806 quarter dollar.
Originals and restrikes can be differentiated by the style of the numeral “2” within the denomination on the reverse of the coin. The originals have a curl base 2 since they were struck using a reverse die of 1828. The restrikes have a square base 2 since they were struck with a reverse die of 1819. All examples, whether originals or restrikes, are struck from an over-dated obverse die with remnants of a “3” visible beneath the final digit of the date.
The finest known original strike graded PCGS PR-66+ CAM sold in 2015 for the astounding price of $705,000. One of the finest known restrikes graded PCGS PR66 realized a price of $168,000 in 2019.
