Barber Quarters
Collecting Barber Quarters is a good idea for a beginner because many of these coins are still available at reasonable prices. Many can be purchased for prices less than $100 and some examples can even be obtained for as little as $15. The values for these quarters have been rising over the past decade and they are expected to command even higher prices in the near future. This means that it is still possible for you to amass a nice private collection of Barber quarters now that will undoubtedly prove to be an excellent investment.
History of the Barber Quarter
These quarters were designed by Charles Barber and are one of the few coin series that are known by the name of the designer instead of by the design itself. These quarters feature the head of Lady Liberty shown in full right profile. There is a laurel wreath and cap atop the head and ribbons in the hair along the back of the neck. The B that is found at the base of the neck denotes Charles Barber as the die designer. The words In God We Trust are printed at the top of the coin over the head. The Barber quarters have 6 stars along the left front side of the coin and 7 on the right. On the reverse of the quarter is the familiar eagle design with outstretched wings. The right talon holds 13 arrows and the left is grasping an olive branch. The coin's mint mark is located just below the tail of the bird:
- No mark indicates that it was produced at the Philadelphia mint.
- S signifies that the coin came from San Francisco, and
- O is the mark of the New Orleans Mint.
These coins were minted for only a short time during the years 1892-1916. This happened to coincide with a time that coin collecting was experiencing a tremendous change. In earlier years many people might hold onto coins because of a date, but the idea of collecting coins with different mint marks was just being introduced.
Why Early Mint Barber Quarters are Hard to Find
The lack of early interest in mint marks explains why there are often few examples of coins with low circulation numbers available. People did not realize how valuable some of these limited production coins from San Francisco or New Orleans facilities would become in the future. The Barber head quarters were frequently minted in very high numbers for public circulation. Some people are surprised to discover that even some examples from large production can cost hundreds of dollars but one of the reasons is that money was hard to come by and it was often spent as quickly as it was earned. During the years of the Barber quarters production it was not easy for the average person to set aside a hefty sum like 25 cents, which helps explain why so few of these millions of coins survived in mint to near mint condition.
Key Examples to Look For
If you are searching for some key Barber quarters to add to your collection there are 3 dates that are important to remember. Circulated grade Barber quarters can be almost as elusive to find as some of the mint examples. The 1901 S is extremely difficult to find and is highly desirable. There were only 72, 664 of these coins minted which makes the task of locating one of these quarters a daunting challenge. Another date that would be considered a true treasure is the 1913 S Barber quarter. This series had a run that was limited to about 40,000 and there have only been relatively few of these that have been unearthed. The scarcity and demand can be seen in the prices that these coins are now commanding. A 1901S Barber quarter in G4 condition sold for about $1700 just 10 years ago and today this same coin can easily bring $4000 or more. The same quarter in MS60 condition was being sold for about $10-12K in 1998 and today it would fetch close to $30K. These kinds of profits make it easy to see why coin collecting remains one of the top hobbies for millions of people around the world.
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