Barber Quarter

The Barber Quarter was issued between 1892 and 1916 and has a current melt value of $14.38

As part of the aftermath of the Coinage Act of 1890, the silver coins, the dime, quarter and half dollar, were all redesigned. These designs, were done by then U.S. Mint Chief Engraver, Charles E. Barber for whom this series of coins is named. The Barber series of coins was issued from 1892 until 1916, although no half dollars were minted in 1916. The Barber Quarter was replaced in 1916 by the Standing Liberty Coin when the Barber Quarter was “retired” after a 25 year run.

There became a consistent public call to replace the Seated Liberty Quarter in the late 1880’s since that series of coinage had been in use since the 1830’s. Coin specifications were established over the previous years by government regulation such as the Coinage Act of 1834 and the Coinage Act of 1872. This meant the Barber Quarter was 90% silver and 10% copper with a diameter of 24.3 millimeters and a weight of 6.3 grams.

The Barber Quarters were minted at Philadelphia, New Orleans and San Francisco as well as Denver. However, production of Barber Quarters from the Denver Mint didn’t begin until 1906 and production at the New Orleans Mint ceased in 1909 when it was shut down. While common Barber Quarters in Good condition run in the $10 to $20 range for commons, there are notable exceptions with additional value, mostly due to low mintages. These are the 1897-S and 1914-S which run in the $70 range and the 1896-S in the $1000 range for Good, the 1913-S in the $1700 range and, of most note, the 1901-S in the $6000 range for Good and a huge step to around $13,000 for Very Good. The reason for the majorly increased value for the 1901-S is due to the fact that only 72,664 Barber Quarters were minted in San Francisco that year.

Standing Liberty Quarter

Standing Liberty Quarters currently have a melt value of $14.38

The Coinage Act of 1890 gave the director of the mint “permission” to change the design of U.S. coins without requiring prior congressional approval. While this wasn’t required, then U.S. Mint director Robert W. Woolley felt a design change was necessary and, since prior Presidential administrations pushed to have the non-silver coins redesigned and issued, designs to replace the Barber dime, quarter and half dollar were sought. After several design changes, the design for the quarter by Hermon Atkins MacNeil were approved. The Standing Liberty Quarter was issued from 1916 through 1930.

There were three significant design changes during the mintage of the Standing Liberty Quarter. The first design changes occurred in 1917 and affected both sides of the coin. The most major redesign was the redistribution of the 13 stars on the reverse from 7 on the left and 6 on the right (Type 1) to 5 on each side and 3 under the eagle and the relocation of the eagle to accommodate 3 stars underneath. The other design change in 1917 was the addition of chain mail to cover Lady Liberty’s bare breast on the obverse. These changes culminated the Type 2 Standing Liberty Coin. 1925 saw the third design change which then became the Type 3. The area around the date was redesigned since the date wore rapidly on the previous designs.

The Standing Liberty Quarter adhered to government regulation as to metal content. It is 90% silver and 10% copper. They are 24.3 millimeters in diameter and weigh 6.3 grams. They were minted in Denver, Philadelphia and San Francisco and the mint mark is located just above and to the left of the date on the obverse. While most Standing Liberty Coins in average circulated condition are in the $20-$50 range (with 1928 and later in the $10 range), there are some rarities. The quarters struck in 1916 and the 1918/7-S doubled die are amongst the rarest and command the highest prices. However, there are a few years/mintages that also command a somewhat higher price than commons do. These are the 1919-D and 1919-S which run in the $150 range and the 1921 and 1923-S Standing Liberty Quarters which are in the $400 range for average circulation quality.

Seated Liberty Dime

Minted from 1837 until 1891, the Seated Liberty Dime enjoyed a production span of over 50 years, longer than the production for any other dime. This coin is 90% silver with a melt value of $5.75 based off current silver price of $79.55  oz.The dime was designed to be visually similar to the other Seated Liberty coinage produced during that time frame, the Seated Liberty Quarter, Seated Liberty Half Dollar and Seated Liberty Dollar. One companion coin, the Seated Liberty Twenty Cent Piece, was minted from 1875 through 1878 but was discontinued as being too similar to the quarter and was considered superfluous.

Because the Coinage Act of 1837 standardized silver content values, the Seated Liberty Dime metal content consisted of 90% silver and 10% copper. While the diameter stayed the same at 17.9 millimeters, the weight of the coin changed over it’s production run.

• 1837 to 1853 -2.67 grams
• 1853 to 1873 – 2.49 grams
• 1873 to 1892 – 2.5 grams

After government legislation in 1872, the 90%/10% metal content, 17.9 millimeter diameter and 2.5 gram weight became the established standard for dimes that held true until 1965. The weight variations were accounted for by design changes which included the addition of arrows in the 1873+ dimes.

Seated Liberty Dime Minted

The Seated Liberty Dime was minted in Philadelphia, New Orleans and Carson City. Even though well over 100 million of these coins produced, common Seated Liberty Dimes in poor condition still have a value in the $25 to $50 range. There are exceptions to this scattered throughout the years and mintages. These exceptions include short runs, design changes and die flaws and may increase the value of even a poor coin dramatically.

The most significant exceptions are the 187x-CC series being the most notable. As an example, perhaps the most important of the Seated Liberty Dimes is the 1874-CC Arrow which, even in poor condition, still runs in the $10,000 range. A 1873-CC No Arrows Seated Liberty Dime appears to be a unique strike and sold recently for $1.84 million.

Barber Dimes

The Barber dime was first minted in 1892 as part of the barber coinage. The dime is 90% silver and has a melt value of $5.75 Melt price live and based off current silver price of $79.55  oz.

After the passage of the Coinage Act of 1890, most coins used for circulation in the U.S. were redesigned and standardized. After a public competition for an artistic design provided no suitable candidates, the Director of the Mint, Edward O. Leech directed Chief Mint Engraver Charles E. Barber to make the design. After much discussion and several redesigns later, one design was approved by President Harrison and his cabinet in November, 1891. The Barber Dime began production in January, 1892 and continued through 1916 when they were replaced by the Winged Liberty (aka Mercury) Dime.

According to government legislation (the Coinage Act of 1837), the metal content of the Barber Dime consisted of 90% silver and 10% copper. A Barber Dime weighs 2.5 grams and is 17.91 millimeters in diameter. Once the weight of many coins was standardized in 1872, these specifications became the standard for silver coinage until 1965.

Over 504 million Barber Dimes produced over it’s 1892 to 1916 production run from the Denver, San Francisco, Philadelphia and New Orleans Mints, the Barber Dime is quite prolific in collectors circles. Common pricing for most in poor to even good condition is under $100 with poor coins being as low as $5. There are few exceptions to this with the 1893/2 overstrike and the 1895 micro O being highly notable. The most notable is the 1894-S of which only 24 were minted as gifts from the Superintendent of the San Francisco Mint to notable bankers. 3 of these were given to his daughter who spent one on ice cream (which later may have been found in a junk box in Gimbel’s Department Store) and 2 of which she sold in the 1950’s. The last one of the 1894-S Barber Dimes to sell at auction went for $1.9 million in 2007.

Mercury Dime

The Mercury Dime was a dime issued at the United States mint(s) during the years of 1916 through 1945. Current silver melt value for any mercury dime is $5.75 as the coin is 90% silver.

After the Coinage Act of 1890, where Congress passed legislation where the design of U.S. coins could be updated after a coin had been in circulation for 25 years, the dime, quarter and half dollar came up for redesign around 1915. The penny and silver dollar had already been updated and, Adolph A. Weinman won a design competition in 1915 for the design for the new dime. Although it’s official designation is the “Winged Liberty” Dime, with wings on the head of Liberty to signify freedom of thought, the common designation of the winged god Mercury persisted. This lead to most people calling it the “Mercury Dime”.

Issued from 1916 through 1945 when it was replaced with the Roosevelt Dime, the Mercury Dime has often been called the most beautiful of American coinage. In adherence to government legislation, the metal content of the Mercury Dime was 90% silver and 10% copper. With a weight of 2.5 grams and a diameter of 17.91 millimeters, the Mercury Dime kept the same specifications as it’s predecessor, the Barber Dime.

With over 2 billion Mercury Dimes produced across all mintages and years, it was a highly prolific, yet highly collectable coin, especially as the price of silver rose. Minted in Denver, San Francisco and Philadelphia, the rarest of the Mercury Dimes is the 1916-D of which only 240,000 were produced. This was due to the fact that in that crossover year, most of the dimes produced at the Denver Mint were for the previous Barber design. Aside from the 1916-D, the other exceptions to the commonplace valuation for the Mercury Dime are the 1921 and 1921-D as well as the 1942/1 and 1942/1-D overstrikes. With exceptions, common Mercury Dimes in MS66 condition range in the $20 to $50 range and the rare date/overstrike dimes in MS66 condition ranging in the $10,000 to $85,000 range.