Capped Bust Quarter · Quarters

1825 Capped Bust Quarter (Included in 1824, all are 5 over 2 or 4 overdate errors)

Variety of the 1825 Capped Bust Quarter struck at the Philadelphia Mint

SilverVariety / error
Mintage
Not recorded
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.

Pure silver0.1934troy oz
Value band: Significant rarity

Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.

What is an 1825 Capped Bust Quarter (Included in 1824, all are 5 over 2 or 4 overdate errors) worth?

Value depends entirely on whether the coin is genuine and on its condition. Have any candidate authenticated before you buy or sell.

For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.

Quick answers

Is the 1825 Capped Bust Quarter (Included in 1824, all are 5 over 2 or 4 overdate errors) rare?
Yes. It's a variety or error, not a regular issue.
Is the 1825 Capped Bust Quarter (Included in 1824, all are 5 over 2 or 4 overdate errors) 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 1825 Capped Bust Quarter?
No mint mark. All struck in Philadelphia.
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What to check on your 1825

  • There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
  • Check the date and mint mark under magnification for tooling or added letters. Scarce dates are the ones forgers alter.
  • Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
  • Old coins pick up damage over a long life. Look for holes, bends, scratches or signs of cleaning before you judge the grade, because a damaged coin sells for a fraction of a problem-free one.
  • 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.

Never clean it. Collectors pay strong premiums for original surfaces and natural toning on a date like this. A cleaned coin can lose half its value or more. Low-mintage dates attract altered and counterfeit coins. Check that the date have not been tooled or added, or buy one already certified by PCGS or NGC.

The story of the 1825

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.

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Mintage chart

Capped Bust Quarter circulation mintagesLog scale · hover or tap a bar · 1815–1838
1,00010K100K1M

Specifications

SeriesCapped Bust Quarter (1815–1838)
Year1825
MintPhiladelphia Mint
Mint markNone
Strike typeCirculation strike
MintageNot recorded
Face value25¢
Composition89.24% silver, 10.76% copper
Weight6.74 grams
Diameter27 mm (1815–1828); 24.3 mm (1831–1838)
EdgeReeded
Silver content0.1934 troy oz (6.015 g)
DesignerJohn Reich; reduced-size version by William Kneass
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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.