Quarter Dollar 1893 Columbian Exposition (Isabella), Coin from United States - detailed information

The Quarter Dollar is a United States coin worth 25 cents. The denomination was introduced in 1796; the choice of a quarter-dollar as a denomination - as opposed to the one fifth (twenty cents) more common elsewhere - originated with the practice of dividing Spanish milled dollars into eight wedge-shaped segments, which gave rise to the name "piece of eight" for that coin, or into quarters.

The denomination is heavily used for circulating commemorative issues, but to date there has been only one Non-Circulating Legal Tender (NCLT) issue in it - the Isabella Quarter (or Columbian Exposition Quarter) struck in 1893. It was intended as a "show piece" for the World's Columbian Exposition - a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World in 1492; the coin was sold at the event, and by mail order. The exposition had been authorised by Congress two years previously; that legislation created a Board of Lady Managers and a Board of Gentleman Managers to oversee the fair.

U.S. Congress authorised the numismatic piece at the request of the Board of Lady Managers of the World's Columbian Exposition. The quarter depicts on the obverse the Spanish Queen Isabella I of Castile, who sponsored Columbus's voyages to the New World. It was designed by Bureau of the Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber, with the reverse based on a sketch by Assistant Engraver George T. Morgan.

The design was not popular at the time, and the coin did not sell well at the Exposition; its price of $1 was the same as for the Columbian half dollar, and the quarter was seen as the worse deal. A total of 40,023 pieces were struck, with the 23 coins over the authorised mintage retained by the Mint for inspection by the 1894 Assay Commission. Some 15,000 quarters were sold to collectors, dealers, and fairgoers, including several thousand of them purchased by the Scott Stamp and Coin Company. Of the remainder, approximately 10,000 quarters were bought at face value by the Lady Managers; 15,809 were returned to the government for melting. After deducting pieces returned for melting, a total of 24,214 coins were distributed to the public.