[The following excerpt is published courtesy of DLRC Press and its author, David Lawrence. This information was originally published in 1994 in The Complete Guide to Barber Quarters.]
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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 comparison, 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 another 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 within 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 whatever — certainly a bargain in terms of information obtained. For example — and I am saying this objectively, 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 containing 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, opportunities are made.
Sincerely,
Q. David Bowers