Table Of Content

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO 2^^ Edition BARBER QUARTERS By David Lawrence , f ' 1 The Complete Guide to Barber Quarters 2”^ Edition By David Lawrence Ol PRESS^ Virginia Beach, Virginia The Complete Guide to Barber Quarters, 2nd Edition Copyright © 1994 by DLRC Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized, by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief excerpts in connection with a review in a newspaper or magazine. ISBN 1-880731-22-3 softcover • 1-880731-21-5 hardcover Library of Congress Catalog Number 94-79248 DLRC Press 6095 Indian River Road, Suite #204 Virginia Beach, Virginia 23464 (804) 424-0560 • fax (804) 424-2363 Printed in the United States of America Look for these and other titles from DLRC Press: The Complete Guide to Buffalo Nickels by David W. Lange The Complete Guide to Mercury Dimes by David W. Lange The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dimes by A1 Blythe The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Dimes by Brian Greer The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dollars by Wiley & Bugert The Complete Guide to Barber Dimes by David Lawrence The Complete Guide to Washington Quarters by John A. Feigenbaum The Complete Guide to Barber Halves by David Lawrence The Complete Guide to Walking Liberty Half Dollars by Bruce Fox The Comprehensive Catalog and Encyclopedia of United States Morgan and Peace Silver Dollars (the “VAM" book) by Van Allen & Mallis Coming soon... The Complete Guide to Franklin & Kennedy Half Dollars (Spring 1995) The Complete Guide to Shield & Liberty Head Nickels by Gloria Peters & Cindy Mohon (Summer 1995) The Complete Guide to Lincoln Cents by David W. Lange (Fall 1995) iii Acknowledgements All photographs were taken by Tom Mulvaney unless otherwise identified. Tom is a great coin pho¬ tographer and we use his services whenever possible. Thanks to Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton for providing photographs and information on varieties. Joe Haney, a member of the Barber Coin Collectors’ Society (BCCS) and variety specialist, provided many pho¬ tographs of coins from his collection. This book is much richer because of his input. Jack White supplied specimens of some interesting possible blundered dates (1908-P & 1908-0). Off-center errors were provid¬ ed by Larry Briggs and John Christensen. Photographs of Charles Barber were provided by R.W. Julian and the patterns shots by the Smithsonian Institution. Jack Beymer has always been available to answer questions, particularly about the characteristics of genuine dies of the three key dates. ANACS and, in particular, Randy Campbell, supplied information via the population report and also on the second obverse of the 1896-S quarter. Phil Carrigan, Paul Reuter, Donald Porsch, Mark Gealy, Glen K. Church, Robert Jenkins, Dane Silvernale and Chip Dean of the BCCS provided specimens for photographs from their personal collections. I thank the following organizations for permission to reprint information from their publications: - Western Publishing Company A Guidebook of United States Coins by R.S. Yoeman; CDN, Inc. - The Coin Dealer Newsletter and Monthly Supplement; Amos Press - Coin World; American Numismatic Association - The Numismatist. iv Foreword by Q. David Bowers Barber quarter dollars minted 1892-1916 are betwixt and between. While Liberty Seated quarters (made from 1838-1891) and Standing Liberty quarters (1916-1930) each have legions of followers by com¬ parison, Barber quarters have been relatively neglected. However, this is not as it should be, American history has been one of my passions, and over the years I have assembled a very nice library on the subject. When I contemplate the 1892-1916 era of Barber coinage, I realize that this encompassed one of the most romantic periods our country has ever experienced. Indeed, even a short list of events and accomplishments during this time period is spectacular. Consider as examples, the staging of the World’s Colombian Exhibition in Chicago in 1893 (a year late; it was planned to open to the public in 1892); the unforgettable presidential campaigns of William Jennings Bryan, particularly the hotly contested “Free Silver” issues of 1896; the administration of Theodore Roosevelt: the popularization of the automobile in America and the invention of the airplane; the era of splendor of the Gay Nineties and the early years of the 20th century, with theater, society, and other aspects of American life reaching new highs (while on anoth¬ er front, child labor, immigration, pure food, trust, and other problems, were receiving serious attention from the government): and more. Indeed, one could take at random a given Barber quarter from the time period, and surround it with all sorts of fascination stories. As if American history did not provide enough of a background, during the same time, the Philadelphia Mint moved into a new building (1901); the New Orleans Mint, established in 1838, coined its final products (in 1909); and the Denver Mint, in 1906 experienced one of the most devastating earthquakes ever. Then there are the coins themselves - the three key rarities in all grades, the famous 1896-S, the even more famous 1901-S and the highly prized 1913-S. Fortunately for the numismatist, none of these is "impossible,” although they are hardly inexpensive. Thus, completion of a set of dates and mintmarks with¬ in this series is a reality. David Lawrence's work furnishes the ideal passport to collecting and enjoying the series from a numismatic viewpoint. How rare is it in a given grade? What are some of the characteristics of the obverse and reverse dies? What about the mintmark shape and position? Are any grades undervalued? What about the striking qualities? These and many other questions are answered at your fingertips. Years ago, when I first began my coin interest in 1952, and became a dealer in 1953, reference books on various American subjects were few and far between. Today, with excellent texts on many series, we take for granted the work done by David Lawrence and others, many of whom have spent hundreds of thousands of hours in painstaking research, and delivered to us in the form of a bound book for $10, $20, $30, or what¬ ever - certainly a bargain in terms of information obtained. For example - and I am saying this objective¬ ly, as I have no vested interest in the production of the book - if the present volume were not available on a retail basis of $29.95 but, instead, only five special limited-edition confidential studies were available con¬ taining the same information at $1,000 each, I as a dealer would spend the $1,000 to get a copy! The book is in your hand. Enjoy its contents. At the same time, realize that the comparative lack of attention the Barber quarter series has received in recent times is to your benefit, for it means that coins in any instance are available for tiny fractions of what they might otherwise cost. Of such situations, oppor¬ tunities are made. Sincerely, Q. David Bowers Introduction The first edition of The Complete Guide to Barber Quarters was published in 1989. It was my first book and became the first of the “Complete Guide” series now published by DLRC Press. Currently there are ten titles in the series with several others in preparation. In the first edition I took the photos myself (and it shows) of low grade coins. The date and mintmark positions were tracings made under a stereo microscope and the data analysis was sparse. For this second edition, most of the photos were taken by a professional - Tom Mulvaney - and they are of the highest grade specimens I could find (in a reasonable amount of time). When I wrote the first edi¬ tion I didn’t think there were many varieties in the quarter series. A careful examination by several Barber Coin Collectors’ Society (BCCS) members, especially Joe Haney, showed 1 was wrong! This second edition has many photos of repunched dates and mintmarks not shown in my previous effort. Also, the PCGS and NGC population reports have been carefully tabulated and historical prices are provided. The illustrations of mintmark positions from the First Edition have been left out to save space and keep the cost down. Barber coins have become increasingly popular since the first edition and the demand for many of the tougher dates far exceeds the available supply — especially in the heavily collected grades of Fine through AU. Some dates are so scarce in AU as to be virtually unavailable to the majority of collectors and I don’t believe that raising current values will bring significantly more specimens into the market. They simply do not exist. It is not unusual to find mint state coins in AU sets because the AU supply is so limited. To com¬ plete this set in AU you must have more than money. You must have patience and a great deal of luck. The BCCS. founded in 1989. continues to have several hundred enthusiastic members who use their Society’s quarterly Journal to exchange information on their latest discoveries. If you enjoy any of the Barber series, please join the BCCS. The more members we have, the better we will all enjoy the hobby. An application has been printed in Appendix D of this book. I wrote this book because 1 love Barbers and want to keep expanding our knowledge of the series. Please feel free to write me about new varieties or any other facet of these great coins. David Lawrence September 1994 Please contact me at: c/o David Lawrence Rare Coins RO. Box 64844 Virginia Beach, VA 23467 vi