1796 Quarter Dollar From Frost Collection Realizes $168,000 at Heritage

By Intelligent Collector Staff 

A coveted early federal rarity took top billing in Dallas when a 1796 Quarter Dollar (B-1), MS61 PCGS from the Frost Collection realized $168,000 at Heritage Auctions’ April 3–6 U.S. Coins Signature event. Cataloged by Heritage as Condition Census, the piece comes from the scarcer B-1 die marriage of the first-year U.S. quarter.  

Mint State survivors of the 1796 quarter are seldom seen. “Survivors in Mint State are few and far between,” said Todd Imhof, Heritage Auctions’ executive vice president, who also noted the B-1 variety is even more elusive than B-2 and called this example one of the top half-dozen known.  

The 1796 quarter headlined a sale that totaled $6,826,524 across early type, gold proofs and key-date dollars, underscoring sustained demand for top-tier 18th- and early 19th-century U.S. coinage. The result underscores Heritage Auctions’ position as a leading venue to sell early U.S. quarter dollars and other early federal type coins.  

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