US Coins 1914-D Barber Quarter
The story of the Barber Quarter began in 1887, when Mint director James B. Kimball included a short request within 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 for the purpose of designing 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.
Eventually, new designs for the three smallest silver denomination would be created by the Chief Engraver of the Mint, Charles E. Barber. Both he and Assistant Engraver George T. Morgan had wanted to create the designs, 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, features a bust of Liberty on the obverse, facing right. She is wearing a Phrygian cap, with the word LIBERTY on the hair band. IN GOD WE TRUST is above the head with the date beneath the truncation of the neck and the designers initial “B” on the truncation. There are 13 stars representing the original states are surrounding the image, configured six to the left and seven to the right.
On the reverse of the coin is the image of an eagle with its wings spread, holding arrows in one claw and an olive branch in the other. A scroll within its beak contains the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM. Above the eagle are another 13 stars, and inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the denomination QUARTER DOLLAR 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 covering only half of the “E” in UNITED. The second variety has the wing covering most of the letter. 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.
US Coins
1894 Barber Half Dollar 1914 Barber Quarter
1892-1916 Quarter Dollar Barber History
In the last decade of the 19th century the United States was in the throes of transition. Economic depression raged. Unionism was defining its relationship both to management and to its own membership. Industrialist J.P. Morgan, labor advocate Samuel Gompers and Congressman William Jennings Bryan were familiar names. The 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition unveiled the technical achievements of capitalism as well as America's cultural sophistication. Piano player Scott Joplin introduced a new kind of music: Ragtime. It was against this backdrop of names and events that the coinage of Charles E. Barber was introduced to the American public.
Coins are usually referred to by their design, not their designer. The Mercury dime, the Franklin half dollar, the Walking Liberty half dollar, the Lincoln cent and almost all other coins give no clues, except for initials hidden somewhere on the coin, to the designer's identity. So when new collectors hear about "Barber Coinage" for the first time, they must think these coins have something to do with haircuts or barber poles. Only four U.S. coin designs are known solely by their designer's names. Christian Gobrecht and George T. Morgan are famous for their beautiful dollars. Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the famous sculptor, designed the magnificent 20th Century twenty dollar gold coin. Charles Barber, however, achieved equal notoriety due more to the controversies of his office than for the beauty of his designs.
Charles Edward Barber was the latest generation in a family of engravers. Born in London in 1840, he came to the United States with his father in 1852. His father William worked as an engraver for private businesses in New England until, in 1869, he was appointed Chief Engraver of the United States Mint. Charles accompanied him and became an assistant engraver at the mint in Philadelphia. When William Barber passed away in 1879, President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed Charles to the position of Chief Engraver.
In 1887, Mint Director James P. Kimball noted in his annual report that in his opinion, the coinage of the United States was out of date and should be changed. At his request, Senator Justin S. Morill introduced a bill authorizing the Treasury Department to redesign coins without the necessity of first obtaining Congressional approval, as long as the design had been in use for twenty-five or more years. The Seated Liberty dime, quarter and half dollar had remained virtually unchanged since 1837. So when the bill passed on September 26, 1890, these coins were first to be earmarked for change.
The Treasury Department, against the advice of Charles Barber, organized a competition to produce the new designs. Barber, Augustus Saint Gaudens and engraver Henry Mitchell were chosen to judge the contest. The result was disastrous, mostly because the judges believed themselves to be better designers than the contestants. In the end, Charles Barber got what he had wanted all along. With the support of the new Mint Director Edward O. Leech, he was chosen to do the design work.
The Barber Quarter, as adopted in 1892, shows a bust of Liberty similar in style to the Morgan Dollar but facing right. She is wearing a Liberty cap with a laurel wreath, and a ribbon ties her hair in the back of her neck. IN GOD WE TRUST appears above her head, and the date appears below. Six stars on the left and seven stars on the right represent the original thirteen colonies. The reverse imitates the Great Seal of the United States and depicts an eagle with outstretched wings, holding an olive branch with thirteen leaves in its right claw and a sheaf of 13 arrows in its left. There is a ribbon with the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM being held in the eagle's beak and thirteen stars are in the field. The designers initial (B) is at the base of Liberty's neck.
When the first Barber quarters were struck in January of 1892, it was discovered that the coins wouldn't stack properly. This problem was resolved by altering the relief and design elements. Thus, there are two types of 1892 quarters. The easiest way to identify them is by the reverse. On Type I, the eagle's left wing crosses the letter "E", in UNITED below the middle serif, leaving most of the letter exposed. The Type II eagle's wing covers most of the letter "E" and the middle serif is hidden. There is a third type, introduced during 1900, with the eagle's wing extending beyond the top of the "E."
The series has no major rarities, though 1901-S is a challenge even in low grades. There are two other "keys"; 1896-S the 1913-S, but even these are obtainable at a price. Almost 265 million pieces were minted between 1892 and 1916 in Philadelphia (no mintmark), San Francisco (S), and New Orleans (O). The mintmark can be found below the eagle's tail. Proofs were minted every year except 1916 and totaled more than 17,000. "Type" collectors particularly favor the 1892 date as it was the first year of issue, and 1909-O, as it was the last issue from the New Orleans Mint.
On high grade Barber quarters, look carefully for slide marks and light scratches, especially on the face. This coin was often collected in albums that used plastic slides. Check for traces of wear on Liberty's cheek, forehead and the hair above her eye. Also check carefully for wear on the "puff" of the Liberty cap. On the reverse, the eagle's wing tips, head and tail are the points to first show wear.
Barber's coinage coincided with an innovation in manufacturing master hubs. Large cameo models were made out of wax and a resinous gum, then electroplated. The model was placed in a pantograph or transfer lathe that transferred the design to a master hub of the size needed for a coin die. The new technique allowed for greater precision and allowed the artist easy introduction of more design elements. Of course, one of the criticisms of the Barber quarter was that the design was cluttered.
In 1916, a new contest was held to replace the Barber quarter design which had been in production the required minimum of 25 years. This contest was successful, and a new design by Hermon Atkins MacNeil, the Standing Liberty quarter, went into production in December of that year. With their low relief design, Barber quarters continued to circulate well into the 1950's, still retaining their dates, outlasting the more "artistic" but less practical Standing Liberty quarter.
Barber Quarter Specifications
The Barber Quarter was struck on planchets containing the regular silver composition at the time, consisting of 90% silver and 10% copper. The pieces have a diameter of 24.3 mm, and weigh 6.25 grams (96 grains) when in uncirculated condition. The mintmark for the branch mints is placed on the reverse, under the tail of the eagle. These are “D” for the Denver Mint, “O” for the New Orleans Mint, and “S” for the San Francisco Mint. Pieces struck at the Philadelphia Mint do not contain a mark.
Collecting the series in circulated grades has become 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. It must be noted that for grading these pieces, the word LIBERTY is not as suitable to use as in indicator of condition. The relief of the design caused the word on Liberty’s hair band to wear off rather quickly, and even EF pieces with a full LIBERTY are scarce.
Dates: 1892-1916
Mint Mark: none (Philadelphia), D (Denver), O (New Orleans), S (San Francisco)
Composition: 90% silver, 10% copper
Weight: 6.25 grams
Diameter: 24.3 mm
Edge: reeded
Designer: Charles E. Barber
Barber Quarter Mintage
The Barber Quarter was minted from 1892 to 1916. For the initial portion of the series from 1892 until 1903, coins were struck each year at the New Orleans and San Francisco Mints. From 1906 until the end of the series, production took place at the Denver Mint for most years. After 1909, no further coins for the denomination were struck at New Orleans.
The mintages range from a high of more than 12 million for two years to an absolute low of just 40,000 pieces for the 1913-S Barber Quarter. The two other notable low mintage years are the 1901-S with a total of 72,664 pieces produced, and the 1896-S with at 188,039. These three issues command significant premiums even in well circulated grades and represent “stoppers” for most collections.