Barber Quarters 1892-1916

Under the Mint Act of 1890, a coin design could be replaced after 25 years without a new act of Congress, and the Liberty Seated dime, quarter and half dollar reached that point in 1891. A public design contest judged by Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber and the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens produced nothing either man liked. Mint Director Edward Leech called the result a failure and assigned the work to Barber, whose Liberty Head design reached all three denominations. Striking began on January 2, 1892.

The quarter needed an early fix. Its relief kept the coins from stacking evenly, so during 1892 Barber reworked the reverse hub with slightly lower relief, and he moved the eagle's wingtip and rearranged the stars at the same time. That change is the source of the Type 1 and Type 2 reverses collectors look for on 1892 quarters.

Quarters came from Philadelphia (1892–1916), New Orleans (1892–1909), San Francisco (most years from 1892 to 1915) and Denver (1906–1916). New Orleans stopped after 1909 when the mint received no money for coining in fiscal 1910. In 1916, Mint Director Robert W. Woolley brought in outside sculptors to replace Barber's designs, and Hermon A. MacNeil's Standing Liberty quarter took over. Because the Mint expected the new quarter to be ready much earlier than it was, 1916 Barber quarters were not struck until late that year.

Obverse. Liberty faces right in a cap circled by a laurel wreath, with LIBERTY on a band above her forehead. IN GOD WE TRUST sits at the top and the date at the bottom, with six stars on the left and seven on the right. Barber's initial B is at the truncation of the neck.

Reverse. A heraldic eagle holds an olive branch and arrows, with a shield on its chest, E PLURIBUS UNUM on a ribbon in its beak, and 13 stars above. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA runs across the top and QUARTER DOLLAR across the bottom.

Mint mark. On the reverse, under the eagle, over the gap that separates QUARTER from DOLLAR. No letter means Philadelphia. The position is not perfectly uniform. On 1892 branch-mint coins the letter is squeezed between the tail feathers and the R of QUARTER, and a batch of reverse dies shipped in 1893 placed it far to the right. New Orleans had used those up by 1896, and San Francisco used the last of them in 1897.

Things that cause confusion.

• 1892 Type 1 vs. Type 2. On Type 1, the eagle's wingtip on the viewer's left ends between the E and D of UNITED and covers little of the E. On Type 2, the wingtip hides most of the E, including its middle bar. All three 1892 mints struck both, and Type 1 is somewhat scarcer.
• Added mint marks. The 1896-S, 1901-S and 1913-S have all been faked by adding an S to a Philadelphia coin. NGC notes that many fake mint marks copy the letter style used from 1917 to 1941, which differs from the genuine one. Buy these dates certified.
• Barber dime. It shares the portrait but puts UNITED STATES OF AMERICA on the obverse and a wreath on the reverse.
• Uncirculated Barber quarters are harder to find than Mint State dimes and halves of the same design, and many show bag marks.

• 1896-S — 188,039 struck. The first of the series' "Big Three," rare in all grades.
• 1901-S — 72,664 struck. The rarest Barber quarter in every grade; most survivors are very worn.
• 1913-S — 40,000 struck, the lowest mintage, yet easier to find than the 1901-S because collectors of the 1930s were still finding it in circulation.
• 1897-S — 542,229 struck. Most have a far-right S; a centered S makes up only about 1 in 15.
• 1896-O — 1,484,000 struck; scarce in all grades and rare in Mint State.
• 1897-O — 1,414,800 struck; especially hard to find in Fine and better.
• 1901-O — 1,612,000 struck and costly in every grade.
• 1909-O — 712,000 struck, the last New Orleans quarter, and usually weak in the center.
• 1913 — 484,000 struck at Philadelphia during the 1913–14 recession.
• 1914-S — 264,000 struck, the same mintage as the 1916-D dime, but priced far lower.
• 1892 — the Type 1 and Type 2 reverses, plus many doubled dies such as WDDO-001 and the 1892-O WDDR-001.
• 1916-D — the most common date in the series, with as many as eight repunched mint marks confirmed.

• Composition: 90% silver, 10% copper
• Weight: 6.25 grams
• Silver content: 5.625 grams, or 0.1808 troy ounces
• Diameter: 24.3 mm
• Edge: reeded
• Designer: Charles E. Barber (both sides)

Proofs were also struck for collectors, with mintages from 1,245 in 1892 down to 380 in 1914.