Values
A Draped Bust quarter is the first quarter-dollar type. This page is a series reference, not a price list.
The mintage chart leaves G, VF, and MS-63 blank. The NGC US Coin Price Guide file retrieved 2026-08-21 does not cover this piece. Do not paste an auction hammer into the grade columns.
If you have one and want to sell it, start with how to sell a coin collection. The large Capped Bust quarter is the next quarter with a motto. The reduced Capped Bust quarter is later and smaller.
Key Dates
1796 is the small-eagle year, and the only one. Heraldic-eagle quarters in this article are 1804, 1805, 1806, and 1807.
The gap after 1796 is a gap in the table. It is not a row of zeroes.
Errors
Overdate called a second mintage. The article notes a 6-over-5 on 1806. That note stays a variety. It is not an extra row.
Large Capped Bust quarter. A cap, a motto, and a later date belong on the large-size page.
Reduced quarter. No motto and a smaller diameter belong on the 1831–1838 page.
Compare the coin to the NGC Coin Explorer. That category runs through the reduced bust. We do not host their plates.
Varieties
1796 is the small eagle. From 1804 the eagle is heraldic. Both are this page. There is no mint mark.
- 1796 small eagleThe first reverse. It is not the heraldic eagle on the plate, which is an 1806.
- 1804–1807 heraldic eagleThe shield eagle. The long pause between 1796 and 1804 is the series, not a missing type.
Names follow PCGS CoinFacts and NGC, the same publishers this site already cites. This is a name list, not a price list and not a count.
Mintage
Circulation counts from the quarter mintage-figures article. Small eagle, then heraldic eagle.
| Year | Mint | Mintage | G | VF | MS-63 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1796 | P | 6,146 Philadelphia circulation cell. Years the article skips stay off. | — | — | — |
| 1804 | P | 6,738 Philadelphia circulation cell. Years the article skips stay off. | — | — | — |
| 1805 | P | 121,394 Philadelphia circulation cell. Years the article skips stay off. | — | — | — |
| 1806 | P | 206,124 Philadelphia circulation cell. Years the article skips stay off. | — | — | — |
| 1807 | P | 220,643 Philadelphia circulation cell. Years the article skips stay off. | — | — | — |
Mintage: the note under this table names the page that printed each count. These figures are not an NGC Coin Explorer extract and they are not the 1974 Mint pamphlet.
Collector-standard year/mint presentation follows A Guide Book of United States Coins (the Red Book). These cells are Mint manufacture figures, not a Red Book net or melt.
Values: NGC US Coin Price Guide, retrieved 2026-08-21. Guide values, not offers. Not melt. NGC IDs link to the same publisher’s price-guide listing.
Key date names: NGC Coin Explorer. Bold rows are only dates that publisher named.
Each row is the circulation cell the article prints for that year. The 1806 overdate is not split out. Years the article skips are not filled in. The grade columns are empty because this site has no NGC guide extract for this coin.
Specifications
These are mint specs, not what a dealer pays. Wear can take a little weight off. We will not invent a tolerance. The weight row is the 1792 standard for a quarter dollar. No catalog page used here prints a thickness.
| Specification | Figure |
|---|---|
| Diameter | Not printed |
| Thickness | Not printed |
| Weight | 104 grains standard (Coinage Act of April 2, 1792) |
| Composition | 1,485/1,664 silver, the rest copper (Coinage Act of April 2, 1792) |
| Edge | Not printed on a cited catalog page |
| Designer | Robert Scot |
No catalog page used for the Draped Bust quarter prints a thickness. Diameter and thickness stay Not printed. The weight is the 1792 quarter-dollar standard. This is not the large Capped Bust quarter.
Grading
A Draped Bust quarter wears first in the drapery and on the eagle.
1796 is the small eagle. 1804 through 1807 are heraldic. Grade the reverse you have.
Key Diagnostic Areas
| Area | What to examine | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Drapery | The cloth at the shoulder. | The drape is the type. A cap is the later quarter. |
| Eagle | Small eagle in 1796, heraldic eagle later. | Wing position is the reverse, not the grade. |
| Date | The digits, including a 6 over 5 on some 1806 coins. | The overdate is a variety inside the year row. |
| Edge | The rim and any filing. | Adjustment marks are weight work. They are not a reeded-edge error. |
Circulated & Mint State
These cards describe this coin, not a second copy of the P-1 through MS-70 chart. The shared numbers live on the glossary.
See graded photos. The photos that show what VF looks like live at PCGS. We do not host their plates. NGC Coin Explorer is another look if you want a second set.
What each named grade looks like on this design.
Poor
Poor
A disk you can still call a Draped Bust quarter if you already know the type.
- The drapery and the eagle are gone.
- The date may be a shadow. Do not scrape it.
- Shine does not make this a better coin.
AG
About Good
You might read a digit. The high points on this Draped Bust quarter are already slick.
- The drapery and the eagle are worn to a blank patch.
- If you cannot read the date without hoping, stay here.
- A 1805 is still this grade if it is this worn.
Good
Good
The date is readable. The design is still mostly an outline.
- The drapery and the eagle are flat. The type is an outline, not a portrait.
- The rim should be full enough to hold the legend.
- This is a worn coin, not a details story.
VG
Very Good
The date is clear. A little life returns away from the high points.
- Some leftover detail sits away from the drapery and the eagle.
- The high points are still tired.
- Do not clean the date to “see it better.”
Fine
Fine
You can follow the design. The high points are outlined, not sharp.
- The drapery and the eagle are outlined and flat — no real sharpness yet.
- The rest of the coin can look busier than the grade.
- The date should be clear. The mint mark should be too, if there is one.
VF
Very Fine
The type is doing real work. The drapery and the eagle still decide.
- Leftover detail sits on the drapery and the eagle. The centers are still the worn spot.
- Marks do not raise the grade.
- A regular 1805 is still this grade if it is this worn.
EF
Extremely Fine
Most of the coin looks sharp. The high points tell on it.
- Light wear on the drapery and the eagle.
- The rest of the coin can look better than the grade. Trust the high points.
- The date should be sharp.
AU
About Uncirculated
Almost no wear — and “almost” lives on the same high points.
- A trace of rub on the drapery and the eagle.
- Luster may still sit in the fields. Rub on those high points is still rub.
- A bright coin with a slick high point is still slick.
Basal MS
Mint State
No wear. The fight is marks and luster, not how white the coin looks.
- No rub on the drapery and the eagle.
- Marks and luster decide how this mint-state coin lives.
- A bright chewed-up coin is still chewed-up.
Choice
Choice Mint State
Still no wear. Cleaner fields than basal mint state.
- Same no-wear rule on the drapery and the eagle.
- Fewer marks in the fields. Luster is more intact.
- White is not a grade.
Gem
Gem Mint State
A clean Draped Bust quarter for this type. Still mint state, still not a story.
- No wear on the drapery and the eagle.
- Marks and luster, not a romance about a date or a white field.
- A slab is an opinion in plastic. The glossary has the numbers.
This page does not invent a PR price grid. The proof numbers live on the glossary.
Copper color designations do not apply to this silver coin. See the Lincoln Wheat cent and the glossary.
Overview
The Draped Bust quarter runs from 1796 to 1807, with a long pause in the middle. The 1796 reverse is a small eagle. From 1804 the eagle is heraldic. Liberty is draped, not capped. There is no mint mark.
The photograph is an 1806 Draped Bust quarter with the heraldic eagle, from the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The 1796 small eagle is the other reverse. Do not grade every quarter as if it were that plate.
This page is a series article, not a shop listing.
History
Quarters were authorized in 1792 and barely made in the 1790s. The mintage article’s first row is 1796. Coinage of this portrait returns with the heraldic eagle in 1804 and ends in 1807. The next quarter type is the large Capped Bust piece, and it does not appear until 1815.
The article’s comments mention an 1806 overdate. This chart keeps one circulation total for 1806, which is what the mintage column shows.
Design
Obverse: draped Liberty facing right, stars, the date. Reverse: small eagle in 1796, heraldic eagle afterward. The value is a quarter dollar even when the reverse legend is easy to miss on a worn coin.
The shoulder drapery and the eagle are the type. A cap on a pole means you have left this page.
People Also Ask
Why is there no 1797 through 1803?
The quarter mintage article prints 1796, then 1804 through 1807. The years in between are not rows because they are not in that table.
What is the 1796 reverse?
A small eagle. The 1804–1807 reverse is a heraldic eagle. Both are this page.
Is this the reduced Capped Bust quarter?
No. The reduced no-motto quarter of 1831–1838 has its own page. The large motto quarter of 1815–1828 has its own page too.
How much is a Draped Bust quarter worth?
This page does not print guide prices. The NGC US Coin Price Guide file retrieved 2026-08-21 does not include this coin. An auction result is not a guide cell.
Collector Considerations
Five circulation rows. If the date is 1815 or later and Liberty wears a cap, use the large Capped Bust quarter page. If the coin is the smaller no-motto bust of the 1830s, use the reduced page.
Do not invent the missing years between 1796 and 1804. The article did not print them.
The Draped Bust dime shares the portrait and does not yet have a year table.
A Final Word
The Draped Bust quarter page is five circulation rows and two eagles. Skipped years stay skipped.
An auction story is not a mintage.