Because the early gold coins of the United States are all very scarce or rare, the average collector little realizes the interesting history behind these early pieces. This is perhaps nowhere more true than in the quarter eagle ($2.50 gold coin), first coined in September 1796.
The United States Mint was organized shortly after the law of April 1792 established a mint and system of coinage. It was not until October 1794, however, that the first silver was struck, and gold did not follow until July 1795 when half eagles ($5 gold coins) were minted.
The delay was due to difficulties in key Mint officers meeting the stiff bond requirements specified in the 1792 law. It was not, in fact, until Congress lowered the necessary bonds in March 1794 that Chief Coiner Henry Voight and Assayer Albion Cox were able to begin working with the precious metals. Mint Director David Rittenhouse then ordered that silver be coined first, and it was not until January 1795 that gold was even considered.
Half eagle ($5 gold) coinage came first, in July 1795, followed closely by eagles ($10 gold coins) in September. Eagles were popular with depositors of precious metals because this denomination was coined exclusively, at least for the gold, until the summer of 1796. This reliance on a single denomination in gold, and the dollar for silver, was the subject of some criticism in Congress and elsewhere despite the fact that the Mint
