Standing Liberty Quarters 1916-1930

The Mint Act of 1890 allowed a coin design to be replaced after 25 years, and Charles Barber's quarter had been struck since 1892. Mint Director Robert W. Woolley, who read the law as calling for a change once that time was up, invited outside sculptors to compete for new silver designs in 1916. Hermon A. MacNeil won the quarter, while Adolph Weinman's designs went on the dime and half dollar.

MacNeil reworked his models through 1916, and the Treasury approved a version in August. What reached the presses was something else: according to NGC, the Mint's own engravers had returned to an earlier obverse and redrawn the reverse. Only 52,000 quarters were struck on December 16, 1916, from a soft obverse hub. A sharper hub was ready at the start of 1917, and the Mint held the 1916 coins back so that both dates could be released together on January 17, 1917.

MacNeil was shocked by the coins and protested. Congress passed the revision on July 9, 1917, and the result is what collectors call Type 2. NGC describes revised models from MacNeil, while CoinWeek credits Chief Engraver George T. Morgan with the changes. A popular story says public objection to Liberty's bared breast forced the change; the complaint NGC documents is MacNeil's own.

Type 2 coins were harder to strike, and the dates of 1916 through 1924 wore off quickly. In 1925 the Mint recessed the date. No quarters were struck in 1922 or 1931, and the Washington quarter replaced the design in 1932.

Obverse. Liberty steps through an opening in a low wall. Her left arm raises a shield, and her right hand holds an olive branch. LIBERTY runs across the top, and the date sits on the step at her feet.

Reverse. An eagle in full flight fills the center, under UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and E PLURIBUS UNUM, with QUARTER DOLLAR at the bottom and 13 stars in the field.

Mint mark. On the obverse, just left of the date. D is Denver and S is San Francisco; Philadelphia used no letter. The M to the right of the date is MacNeil's initial.

Type 1 or Type 2.

• Type 1 (1916 and early 1917): Liberty's breast is partly exposed, and the eagle flies low with stars on both sides of it.
• Type 2 (1917 to 1930): a coat of chain mail covers her upper body, the shield has fewer rivets, and the eagle is raised, with three stars moved below it.

Dated or dateless. Before 1925 the date stands on a raised step and is often worn away. From 1925 it sits in a recess and survives on worn coins. On a coin where only part of the date remains, the last digit is usually the last to go.

Full Head (FH). Liberty's head is the first thing to strike weakly, so the graders flag coins where it came up fully. PCGS gives FH from AU50 up. On Type 1 it requires the hair cords to stand clearly apart from the cap; on Type 2, three complete leaves, a complete lower outline of the helmet and a clear ear hole. NGC asks for the three leaves, an unbroken hairline along the brow and a visible ear indentation, and it does not require Mint State. A coin can meet one standard and not the other.

• 1916: 52,000 struck. Most people saving the new coin never saw one, and NGC notes it was selling for a dollar or more within months.
• 1917 Type 1: saved in quantity as the first coins most people saw, and usually sharply struck. NGC cites an estimate that 80% of unworn pieces show a full head.
• 1917-S Type 2: 5,522,000 struck, but NGC calls it the scarcest of the six 1917 issues in every grade.
• 1918/7-S: the overdate of the series. NGC explains it as a die that received hub impressions dated 1917 and then 1918 before getting its S; CoinWeek describes a leftover 1917 die re-engraved. It was not reported until the early 1930s, and NGC doubts more than several hundred survive. PCGS will give it FH from XF40.
• 1919-D and 1919-S: 1,944,000 and 1,836,000 struck. Both are weakly struck as a rule, and NGC counts the 1919-S among the keys.
• 1921: 1,916,000 struck, all at Philadelphia. NGC finds many strikes soft at the bottom of the date.
• 1923-S: 1,360,000 struck. Worn examples are scarce. Check the date: NGC warns of 1923 coins with an added S.
• 1927-S: 396,000 struck. Because its recessed date survives wear, collectors were still finding it in circulation around 1960, so worn coins exist; NGC calls it rare above XF. The 1927 with an added S is a known fake.

• Composition: 90% silver, 10% copper
• Weight: 6.25 grams
• Silver content: 0.1808 troy ounces
• Diameter: 24.3 mm
• Edge: reeded
• Designer: Hermon A. MacNeil (both sides)

In 2016 the Mint reissued MacNeil's design in one-quarter ounce of 24-karat gold as part of its centennial gold series.