With a mere 48 coins struck, the 1889 boasts the lowest mintage among Proof Liberty Head quarter eagles from its decade after only the 1880 (36 Proofs struck). The mintage of the Proof 1889 is curious since it is flanked by issues with more normal production figures for the era: 97 Proofs for the 1888 and 93 Proofs for the 1890. Since the Proof 1889 half eagle, eagle and double eagle also have uncommonly low mintages for their era, demand for complete gold Proof sets among contemporary numismatists was obviously limited that year. (The record mintage of 1,779 Proofs for the 1889 gold dollar was achieved to meet contemporary numismatic speculation in these coins; the Proof 1889 three-dollar gold piece has a respectable mintage of 129 Proofs and, like the gold dollar, is also popular as the final issue of its type.) No more than 35 examples of the Proof 1889 quarter eagle are believed extant with the typical survivor coming to market only when significant collections such as this are sold.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the March 2011 Baltimore Auction, where it sold for $28,750.