Standing Liberty Quarter

1916 – 1930

The Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar was produced from 1916 to 1930, which was relatively short-lived for a coin, especially one of such nice design. It is interesting to note that no quarter dollars were minted in 1922. The coins were struck in; Philadelphia (no mintmark), San Francisco (S), and Denver (D), with a total of over 226 million coins for all years and mintmarks combined.
In its first year the obverse of the Standing Liberty Quarter featured a bare breasted Lady Liberty. In 1917 designer Hermon A. MacNeil was pressured to change the design. Perhaps the designer was making a statement when he changed the design by adding a coat of chain mail to Liberty’s breasts. MacNeil was a well known sculptor and had won the US Mints design competition for the new quarter.

The reverse side of  the coin was also changed in 1917. The Eagle was placed more in the center and the thirteen stars were rearranged so that three of them were now below the eagle. This change represents the two main varieties of the Standing Liberty Quarter; Type 1, “No Stars Below the Eagle” (1916 & 1917) and Type 2, “Three Stars Below the Eagle” (1917 through 1930). Both Type 1 and Type 2 Standing Liberty Quarters were struck by all three mints in 1917.
Because of the way the coin was designed the date, the rivets on the shield and Lady Liberty’s head were the first areas to see wear. In 1925 the design was changed to recess the date in an attempt to protect it from wear. Needless to say examples with a “Full Head”, “Full Rivets” and a sharp date are the most valuable.
“Full Head” examples are more a result of the quality of the strike than with normal wear. Many uncirculated coins do not qualify for this classification. For a Standing Liberty Quarter to be “Full Head” it must meet the following criteria:

• Three leaves completely visible in Lady Libertys hair
• A complete hairline
• Indentation for the ear must be visible

The rarest date is the 1916 strike, there were only 52,000 minted that year. The 1927 S is also hard to find, there were only 396,000 struck. In 1918 there was an error discovered where a 7 was placed over top of the 8. The errors were minted at San Francisco and are referred to as the 1918/7 S Overdate.
Because of its beauty the Standing Liberty Quarter is one of the most popular coins with collectors. It is possible for a collector to complete a full set, even in higher grades. Whether you want to work at completing a full set or you  just want to collect a nice coin the Standing Liberty Quarter should be part of your portfolio.
Standing Liberty Quarter Specifications:

• Diameter: 24.3 mm
• Weight: 6.25 g
• Composition: 90% silver, 10% copper
• Edge: Reeded
• Net Weight: .18084 oz pure silver

By D. Slone Copyright, 2011 CoinCollectorGuide.com
Standing Liberty Quarter Mintage Numbers:

1916 …. 52,000 1917 Type 1 …. 8,740,000 1917-D Type 1 …. 1,509,200 1917-S Type 1 …. 1,952,000 1917 Type 2 …. 13,880,000 1917-D Type 2 …. 6,224,400 1917-S Type 2 …. 5,552,000 1918 …. 14,240,000 1918-D …. 7,380,000 1918-S …. 11,072,000 1919 …. 11,324.000 1919-D …. 1,944,000

1919-S …. 1,836,000 1920 …. 27,860,000 1920-D …. 3,586,400 1920-S …. 6,380,000 1921 …. 1,916,000 1923 …. 9,716,000 1923-S …. 1,360,000 1924 …. 10,920,000 1924-D …. 3,112,000 1924-S …. 2,860,000 1925 …. 12,280,000 1926 …. 11,316,000 1926-D …. 1,716,000

1926-S …. 2,700,000 1927 …. 11,912,000 1927-D …. 976,000 1927-S …. 396,000 1928 …. 6,336,000 1928-D …. 1,627,600 1928-S …. 2,644,000 1929 …. 11,140,000 1929-D …. 1,358,000 1929-S …. 1,764,000 1930 …. 5,632,000 1930-S …. 1,556,000