The Barber coinage consists of a dime, quarter, and half dollar designed by United States Bureau of the Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber. They were minted between 1892 and 1916, though no half dollars were struck in the final year of the series.
By the late 1880s, there were increasing calls for the replacement of the Seated Liberty design, used since the 1830s on most denominations of silver coins. In 1891, Mint Director Edward O. Leech, having been authorized by Congress to approve coin redesigns, ordered a competition, seeking a new look for the silver coins. As only the winner would receive a cash prize, invited artists refused to participate and no entry from the public proved suitable. Leech instructed Barber to prepare new designs for the dime, quarter, and half dollar, and after the chief engraver made changes to secure Leech's endorsement, they were approved by President Benjamin Harrison in November 1891. Striking of the new coins began the following January.
Public and artistic opinion of the new pieces was, and remains, mixed. In 1915, Mint officials began plans to replace them once the design's minimum term expired in 1916. The Mint issued Barber dimes and quarters in 1916 to meet commercial demand, but before the end of the year, the Mercury dime, Standing Liberty quarter, and Walking Liberty half dollar had begun production. Most dates in the Barber coin series are not difficult to obtain, but the 1894 dime struck at the San Francisco Mint (1894-S), with a mintage of 24, is a great rarity.
Background Charles Barber Charles E. Barber was born in London in 1840. His grandfather, John Barber, led the family to America in the early 1850s. Both John and his son William were engravers and Charles followed in their footsteps. The Barber family initially lived in Boston upon their arrival to the United States, though they later moved to Providence to allow William to work for the Gorham Manufacturing Company. William Barber's skills came to the attention of Mint Chief Engraver James B. Longacre, who hired him as an assistant engraver in 1865; when Longacre died in 1869, William Barber became chief engraver and Charles was hired as an assistant engraver.
William Barber died on August 31, 1879, of an illness contracted after swimming at Atlantic City, New Jersey. His son applied for the position of chief engraver, as did George T. Morgan, another British-born engraver hired by the Mint. In early December 1879, Treasury Secretary John Sherman, Mint Director Horatio Burchard, and Philadelphia Mint Superintendent A. Loudon Snowden met to determine the issue. They decided to recommend the appointment of Barber, who was subsequently nominated by President Rutherford B. Hayes and in February 1880, was confirmed by the Senate. Barber would serve nine presidents in the position, remaining until his death in 1917, when Morgan would succeed him.
Coinage redesign was being considered during Barber's early years as chief engraver. Superintendent Snowden believed that the base-metal coins then being struck (the one-, three-, and five-cent pieces) should have uniform designs, as did many of the silver pieces, and also some gold coins. He had Barber create experimental pattern coins. In spite of Snowden's desires, the only design modified was that of the five-cent coin, or nickel; Barber's design, known as the Liberty Head nickel, entered production in 1883. The new coin had its denomination designated by a Roman numeral "V" on the reverse; the three-cent coin had always had a "III" to designate its denomination. Enterprising fraudsters soon realized that the nickel and half eagle (or five-dollar gold piece) were close in size, and plated the base metal coins to pass to the unwary. Amid public ridicule of the Mint, production came to a halt until Barber hastily added the word "cents" to the reverse of his design.
Movement towards redesign
For much of the second half of the 19th century, most U.S. silver coins bore a design of a seated Liberty. This design had been created by Christian Gobrecht, an engraver at the United States Mint in Philadelphia, after a sketch by artist Thomas Sully, and introduced to U.S. coins in the late 1830s. The design reflected an English influence, and as artistic tastes changed over time, was increasingly disliked in the United States. In 1876, The Galaxy magazine said of the then current silver coins:
Public dissatisfaction with the newly-issued Morgan dollar led the Mint's engravers to submit designs for the smaller silver coins in 1879. Among those who called for new coinage was editor Richard Watson Gilder of The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine. Sometime in the early 1880s, he, along with one of his reporters and sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens visited Mint Director Burchard to argue for the creation of new designs. They brought along classic Greek and Roman coins in an attempt to persuade Burchard that the coinage could easily be made more beautiful. The visitors left disappointed, after learning that Burchard considered the much-criticized Morgan dollar as beautiful as any of them.
In 1885, Burchard was succeeded as Mint director by James Kimball. The new director was more receptive to Gilder's ideas and in 1887 announced a competition for new designs for the non-gold coinage. These plans were scuttled when Vermont Senator Justin Morrill questioned the Mint's authority to produce new designs. The Mint had claimed authority under the Coinage Act of 1873 in issuing the Morgan dollar in 1878 and the Liberty Head nickel in 1883. Morrill was a supporter of coin redesign and had in the past introduced bills to accomplish this; he felt, however, that this could not be done without an act of Congress. Kimball submitted the issue to government lawyers; they indicated that the Mint lacked the claimed authority. All three men worked to secure a bill to authorize new designs: Morrill by introducing and pressing legislation, Kimball by lobbying for the authority in his annual report, and Gilder by orchestrating favorable coverage. With legislators busy with other matters, it was not until September 26, 1890, that President Benjamin Harrison signed legislation making all denominations of U.S. coins available for immediate redesign by the Mint upon obtaining the Secretary of the Treasury's approval. Each coin could thereafter be altered from the 25th year after it was first produced; for example, a coin first struck in 1892 would be eligible for redesign in 1916.
Inception
Three days before the signing of the 1890 act, Barber wrote to the superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint, Oliver Bosbyshell, setting forth proposed terms of a competition to select new coin designs. Barber suggested that entrants be required to submit models, as opposed to drawings, and that the designs be in low relief, which was used for coins. He proposed that the entries include the lettering and denomination, as submissions without them would not adequately show the appearance of the finished coin. He received a reply that due to other work, the Mint would not be able to address the question until the spring of 1891.
On October 16, 1890, a new Mint director, Edward O. Leech, took office. Leech, aged 38 at the time, had spent his career at the Bureau of the Mint, and was an enthusiastic supporter of redesign. He took the precaution of obtaining recommendations from Barber as to suitable outside artists who might participate in a competition. Since most of the proposed artists were New York-based, Andrew Mason, superintendent of the New York Assay Office, was given the task of finalizing the list of invitees. Leading Mason's list of ten names was that of Saint-Gaudens. Mason sent Leech the recommendations on April 3, 1891; the following day, the Mint director announced the competition, open to the public, but he specifically invited the ten artists named by Mason to participate. Besides Saint-Gaudens, artists asked to compete included Daniel Chester French, Herbert Adams and Kenyon Cox. Although Barber had warned the director that reputable artists would likely not enter a contest in which only the winner received compensation, Leech offered a $500 prize to the winner, and no payments to anyone else. He sought new designs for both sides of the dollar, and for the obverses of the half dollar, quarter, and dime—Leech was content to let the reverses of the Seated Liberty coins continue. By law, an eagle had to appear on the quarter and half dollar, but could not appear on the dime.
Most of the artists conferred in New York and responded in a joint letter that they would be willing to participate, but not on the terms set. They proposed a competition with set fees for sketches and designs submitted by the invited artists, to be judged by a jury of their peers, and with the Mint committed to replace the Seated Liberty coins with the result. They also insisted that the same artist create both sides of a given coin, and that more time be given to allow the development of designs. Leech was unable to meet these terms, as there was only enough money available for the single prize. In addition to inviting the ten artists, he had sent thousands of solicitations through the country; a number of designs were submitted in response to the circulars. To judge the submissions, he appointed a jury consisting of Saint-Gaudens, Barber, and Henry Mitchell, a Boston seal engraver and member of the 1890 Assay Commission. The committee met in June 1891 and quickly rejected all entries.
Leech was quoted in the press regarding the result of the contest:
Barber wrote years later about the competition, "many [entries] were sent in, but Mr. St. Gaudens, who was appointed one of the committee to pass upon designs, objected to everything submitted". Numismatic historian Roger Burdette explained the artistic differences between the two men:
Preparation Frustrated at the competition's outcome, Leech instructed Barber on June 11, 1891, to prepare designs for the half dollar, quarter, and dime. As the Morgan dollar was then being heavily struck, the Mint director decided to leave that design unaltered for the time being. For the obverse of the new coins, Leech suggested a depiction of Liberty similar to that on the French coins of the period; he was content that the current reverses be continued. Leech had previously suggested to Barber that he engage outside help if the work was to be done at the Mint; the chief engraver replied that he was aware of no one who could be of help in the preparation of new designs. Leech had spoken with Saint-Gaudens on the same subject; the sculptor stated that only four men in the world were capable of executing high-quality coin designs; three lived in France and he was the fourth.
Leech announced the decision to have Barber do the work in July, stating that he had instructed the engraver to prepare designs for presentation to Secretary of the Treasury Charles Foster. In a letter printed in the New York Tribune, Gilder expressed disappointment that the Mint was planning to generate the new designs in-house, feeling that the Mint, essentially a factory for coins, was ill-equipped to generate artistic coin designs. Due to Gilder's prominence in the coinage redesign movement, Leech felt the need to respond personally, which he did in early August. He told Gilder that "artistic designs for coins, that would meet the ideas of an art critic like yourself, and artists generally, are not always adapted for practical coining". He assured Gilder that the designs which Barber had already prepared had met with the approval of Mitchell, though Leech himself had some improvements to suggest to the chief engraver.