Barber Quarter
After a whole generation had not seen any other silver coin designs in circulation than the Liberty Seated motif, change came in 1892. Three denominations were introduced that year with the same basic designs on both sides. One of these was the so-called Barber Quarter. Minted continuously from 1892 until 1916, the series consists of 74 circulation strike issues and an additional 24 Proof issues for all years up to 1915. Overall, except for 3 rare key issues, the series is very collectible, although much overlooked until recent times.
image from www.coinpage.com
By the end of 1891, the Liberty seated design had been in use since the late 1830’s, and many people did not remember any other design in use for the silver coinage. Circulation of Liberty seated coinage fluctuated during the decades, as coins were hoarded and melted, came out of the woodwork again and saw considerable circulation. When the Barber quarter was introduced, circulation of silver coinage was fairly steady since the late 1870’s, and many of the issues circulated freely.
The story of the Barber Quarter began in 1887, when Mint director James B. Kimball included a short request in his Annual report to alter the circulating coin designs. The public had become tired of them, and many considered the Liberty seated design to be of inferior quality, especially for a nation as grand as the United States. Nothing happened until 1890, when the Treasury Department contacted ten prominent artists to design new silver coinage. The cost to hire one of these artists far exceeded what the Treasury Department was willing to spend, and the idea was soon abandoned.
The final design was eventually created by Charles E. Barber. Both he and George T. Morgan wanted to create the new design, and the competition between the two men which had started many years earlier continued here as well. According to some people there are still similarities between the two designers, as Breen put it in his Encyclopedia in his typical language:
"Barber’s new obverse was a mirror image of the Morgan dollar head, with most of Ms. Anna Witless Williams cropped off and the rest modestly concealed within her enlarged cap."
The design of the Barber Quarter, which was submitted in October of 1891, has a bust of Liberty on the obverse, facing right. She is wearing a Phrygian cap, with the word LIBERTY on her hair band. IN GOD WE TRUST is above the head with the date under the truncation of the neck. The designers initial, “B” is on the truncation. 13 stars representing the original states are around, configured 6 to the left and 7 to the right.
The Barber Quarter reverse is an eagle spreading its wings, holding arrows in one claw and an olive branch in the other. In its beak is a scroll with the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM. Above the eagle are another 13 stars, and both UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the denomination QUARTER EAGLE are around. The first year of the series, 1892, had dies made from two different reverse hubs. The first has the Eagle’s left wing (viewers right) covering only half of the E in United. The second variety has the wing covering most of the E. In 1900 a new obverse hub was introduced, and in 1901 a new reverse hub was introduced as well, but few collectors have noticed this change and it is not often mentioned in literature.
The Barber Quarter series is very collectible, although it has been much overlooked until the last few years. Pieces were struck at the Philadelphia, Denver, New Orleans and San Francisco Mints for circulation, and Proofs for collectors were struck in Philadelphia only until 1915. Collecting the series in circulated grades is especially popular, although the design wears unevenly and many pieces have been cleaned and dipped. As such, original pieces in VF to EF grades command strong pieces over general coins of the same grade.
