The Barber Quarter is a perennial favourite amongst collectors for its historic significance and the thrilling problem that comes with attempting to assembling a whole set, together with cash from all mint services.
Of their period, Barber Quarters primarily went instantly into circulation and stayed there. They have been closely used and at this time survivors in excessive grades are scarce. In 1896, a mere 762 Barber proofs have been minted. At the moment, high-quality 1896 Barber proof quarters are laborious to return by. There’s solely an estimated 250 survivors in grades 65 or higher.
To carry a 1896 Barber Quarter in your hand is a direct connection to some of the economically vibrant intervals in our nation’s historical past. This coin was minted in the direction of the tip of the Gilded Age.
The speedy progress of heavy trade, like factories, railroads, and coal mining, drove financial progress ahead at a livid tempo in these years. The Gilded Age period featured storied rich industrialists and financiers like John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and Cornelius Vanderbilt, who’re well-remembered at this time. Lots of their Gilded Age fortunes have been turned to good use by means of philanthropy, they usually proceed to impression individuals’s lives at this time by means of universities, hospitals, museums, and libraries.
Barber quarters have been minted from 1892 to 1916. The hanging coin is called after its designer, United States Bureau of the Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber. The Barber quarter is a part of a collection of cash, which at this time collectors discuss with because the “Barber coinage.” This features a dime, quarter and half greenback.
At the moment, collectors attempt to personal a group of Barber quarters minted in any respect the totally different U.S. Mint services, together with Philadelphia (no mint mark), New Orleans (O mint mark), San Francisco (S mint mark), and Denver (D mint mark).
The Barber quarter was launched as a part of a modernization effort of our nation’s coinage, and it changed the Seated Liberty quarter, which had been in circulation since 1838. The Barber quarter has earned a revered place within the numismatic world because it represents the altering coinage in the course of the late nineteenth century.
Minted with 90% silver and 10% copper, the obverse incorporates a bust of Liberty dealing with proper. She wears a Phrygian cap, which is a logo of freedom, and is surrounded by the phrases “IN GOD WE TRUST.” The date is positioned under the bust of Liberty. The reverse highlights a memorable heraldic eagle with outstretched wings. The eagle holds an olive department and arrows in its talons, symbolizing peace and power.
This coin was minted throughout a unprecedented interval of American historical past—the Gilded Age. Different memorable occasions in 1896: Utah was admitted because the forty fifth state to the US of America, in Might 1896, a bunch of 12 industrial shares was chosen to kind the Dow Jones Industrial Common, and in November 1896, Republican William McKinley gained the U.S. presidential election, defeating William Jennings Brian. Check out the artistry of the 1896 Barber Quarter Proof right here and picture holding it in your hand as a manner to hook up with this historic time in America.
