Owner Comments:
Rarity 7th of 14 per Douglas Winter's "Gold Coins Of The New Orleans Mint 1838-1909"
Variety 1(1-A)
Obverse: The 1 in the date does not touch the truncation
Reverse: The mint mark is right of the arrow fletching
Winter also states, "This is among the hardest dates in the New Orleans quarter eagle series to find with a sharp strike. Most are weakly impressed at the centers, and as with the 1847-O, have an appearance which can almost be described as "sunken". On the obverse there is considerable weakness on the curls below and behind Liberty's Ear and many of the stars are weak at their centers. The reverse is usually weak on the right leg and claw of the eagle as well as on the neck feathers."
Garrett and Guth in their "Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins 1795-1933" echo the poor quality with, "The most interesting feature of the 1850-O quarter eagle is the extremely poor quality of the strike on most known examples. The central portions are usually very weak, to the point of looking mushy." They also state, "This date is scarce in all grades, and just a few coins are offered for sale in most years."