1820 Capped Bust Quarter Proof
Proof struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 10 made
- Mintage
- 10
- Metal
- 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper
- Weight
- 6.74 g
- Diameter
- 27 mm (1815–1828); 24.3 mm (1831–1838)
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is an 1820 Capped Bust Quarter Proof worth?
Few coins in the series are harder to find. Even a worn 1820 sells well above face value. The flip side is that counterfeits and altered dates are common, so authentication matters.
What would make yours worth more:
- Grade and, for proofs, strong cameo contrast
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1820 Capped Bust Quarter Proof rare?
- Fairly. The Mint made 10 for collectors. Most were kept in their original packaging.
- Is the 1820 Capped Bust Quarter Proof silver?
- Yes. It's 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper and holds 0.1934 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1820 Capped Bust Quarter?
- No mint mark. All struck in Philadelphia.
- How many 1820 Capped Bust Quarter proofs were made?
- 10.
What to check on your 1820
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Judge the grade under good light. Wear first appears on the curls near the ear, the cap and the eagle's wings. The word LIBERTY on the headband should be clear in Fine.
Proofs from 1820 were struck one at a time in small numbers and many were later spent or mishandled. Look for hairlines from cleaning, which lower the grade.
The story of the 1820
Overdates and the 25/50 C. reverse (1820 to 1825)
The early 1820s are full of reused and repunched dies. The 1820 comes with a small or large 0 in the date. The 1822 includes the 25/50 C. variety, where the engraver first punched 50 C. into a quarter die and then corrected it to 25 C. The 1823/2 had a recorded mintage of just 17,800 and is a major rarity in any condition.
Mint records give 168,000 for 1824, a figure that also covers coins dated 1825. All of those 1825 quarters show the final 5 punched over an earlier digit. The 1824/2 is scarce in its own right. Half dollars took most of the silver deposited at the Mint in these years, which kept quarter output modest. Survivors are usually in Good to Fine with soft centers. Coins with full curls and sharp stars are hard to find.
How to recognize it
Liberty faces left wearing a cloth cap with a band inscribed LIBERTY, surrounded by 13 stars with the date below. The reverse shows an eagle with a shield on its breast and the value 25 C. below. Early coins are larger and carry E PLURIBUS UNUM on a scroll; in 1831 the coin was made smaller on new close-collar presses and the motto was removed.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Capped Bust Quarter (1815–1838) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1820 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Proof |
| Mintage | 10 |
| Face value | 25¢ |
| Composition | 89.24% silver, 10.76% copper |
| Weight | 6.74 grams |
| Diameter | 27 mm (1815–1828); 24.3 mm (1831–1838) |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.1934 troy oz (6.015 g) |
| Designer | John Reich; reduced-size version by William Kneass |
Other 1820 Capped Bust Quarter issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1820 Capped Bust Quarter | 127,444 | Circulation strike | 0.1934 oz |
| 1820 Capped Bust Quarter Proof | 10 | Proof | 0.1934 oz |
Mintage: United States quarter mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.