By Paul Gilkes
COIN WORLD Staff

"A wretched failure." Not the best way to start out a new coin series.

After passage of the Mint Act of Sept. 26, 1890, which allowed for coins in use for at least 25 years to be redesigned, the Treasury Department launched plans for an invitation-only contest to redesign the dime, quarter dollar and half dollar denominations, which was later changed to a public, juried contest after the invited artists balked at the competition rules. The public contest bombed, with only two of 300 designs even worthy of mention.

Mint Director Edward O. Leech preferred Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber to handle the redesign.

The original obverse design showing Columbia standing, holding a liberty pole with an eagle in the background was ditched in favor of Leech's call for a head of Liberty similar to several French bronze and silver coins from the Third Republic.

The reverse would bear the national standard of a brave eagle symbolizing the nation's might.

A number of pattern designs were submitted for the reverse of both the quarter dollar and half dollar, but Mint and Treasury officials had difficulty in selecting a design. They couldn't settle on the number of points on the stars, nor the number of olive leaves or arrows.

Ultimately the obverse design chosen captured 13 six-pointed stars instead of five-pointed stars often found on U.S. coins.

The reverse was a different matter. The final design, which was also used on the half dollars, dropped the clouds above the eagle's head, moved the stars from points around the eagle to the field above the eagle, and moved the ribbon with E PLURIBUS UNIM. grasped in the eagle's beak to behind the eagle's neck instead of in front.

On the adopted reverse, the eagle's right wing (left side of coin) crosses the letter E. in UNITED below the middle serif, leaving most of the letter exposed.

It was soon determined that after quarter dollar production commenced on Jan. 2, 1892, that the new coins did not stack properly. Liberty's head extended above the rim.

Barber resolved this problem on the hub by increasing the border width and reducing the radius of IN GOD WE TRUST. The stars were also moved toward the center of the coin. There is no center cartilage in Liberty's ear on the revised portrait and the end of the inner ribbon is more deeply forked. Both hubs were used in 1892.

The reverse hub was also modified. The eagle's right wing crosses the middle of the E in UNITED, with the center serif of the E not showing.

The obverse and reverse hubs were again changed in 1900. Coins from the second hub dies were thinner than the first, allowing 21 Type II coins to equal the thickness of 20 Type I coins.

On the obverse of the Type III coins from 1900 to 1916, Liberty's ear clearly shows center cartilage. The end of the inner ribbon has a shallow fork. On the reverse, the eagle's wing extends beyond the E in UNITED.

Barber coins were produced for the minimum 25 years, after which Hermon A. MacNeil's Standing Liberty quarter dollar design was introduced. Most Barber quarters were subjected to heavy circulation usage and show their excessive wear. Many of the low-grade coins were melted in the silver boom of 1979 to 1980.

Seventy-five coins by date and Mint mark make up the basic set.

Barber quarter dollars were struck at all four Mint production facilities for circulation: Philadelphia, San Francisco, Denver and New Orleans.

However, the three main keys to the Barber quarter dollar series were all struck at the San Francisco Mint: the 1896-S with 188,039 coins struck for circulation; the key 1901-S with 72,664 coins produced; and the 1913-S, with just 40,000 coins struck.

The 1901-S Barber quarter dollar is named "the king of all regular issue 20th century coins." Most examples are in About Good or Good/AG condition, with coins in higher grades commanding significant premiums.

Other tough dates to locate are the 1892-S, 1893-S, 1894-O, 1897-O, 1897-S, 1898-O, 1901-O, 1907-D, 1907-S, 1908-S, 1909-O, 1911-D, 1911-S, 1912-S, 1913, 1913-S and 1914-S quarter dollars.