The Renaissance of United States Coinage: Part 4.

The Standing Liberty Quarter 1916-30 (Designer: Hermon Atkins MacNeil).

by Tolling Jennings .

 

(Ed. note: The first three parts of this series won the writer the "Jerome Remick Award" 2006)

The events of the summer of 1914 would change the modern world forever. Not only would 20 million people die in the carnage of the war that erupted in Europe , but an entire way of life would vanish from the planet. The one major political change that occurred as a result of "The Great War" was the passing of the monarchy and of the divine right of kings. This process had been in progress for centuries but not until the First World War would royalty be removed from an assured role in government. Not until the "War to End All Wars" did government pass into the hands of the people. This was a very short-lived phenomenon that was replaced by military corporate rule after the end of the Second World War.

The period from 1900 to 1915 was a time of transition and experimentation in the United States . New methods of transportation were evolving with the likes of the "aeroplane". The creation of the assembly line as a method of production and the centralization of cheap labour into major metropolitan centres created an abundance of affordable material goods that fed a booming economy. The isolationist attitude was well entrenched in Washington D.C. but there were indications that the United States might have to become involved in " Europe 's War".

This realization of pending participation in the conflict in Europe was expressed in the designs of U.S. coins that emerged in 1916. The request from the Treasury of the United States asked that the designs be "intended to typify in a measure the awakening interest of the country to its own protection". This concept would influence all three of the new designs of 1916.

In the case of the "Standing Liberty Quarter", this intention was expressed in the basic design. Miss Liberty is holding a shield in her left hand with the cover being removed indicating a willingness of the United States to defend itself. This counteracted with the offering of a laurel branch in her right hand, always an offering of peace: "We are offering peace, but we are ready for war". The symbolism continues with the emergence of Miss L. from the porticos of a ship, suggesting she is disembarking on a foreign shore. The symbolism is hard to miss but it is all overshadowed by the stunning beauty of MacNeil's rendition of Miss Liberty. Her stature, grandeur and youthfulness had not been seen on U.S. coinage since the flowing-hair nymph of the 1792 one-cent coin. Her feminine beauty is barely concealed beneath a gossamer gown that fails to cover her perfectly formed right breast, nipple and all. Her bare feet complete an image that evokes a sense of youth, beauty, hope, strength and purpose. Miss Liberty may have been prepared to go to war in Europe but she probably wasn't ready for the uproar at home.

 

U.S.A. , Standing Liberty Quarter,Type One, 1916.(2x) One of the finest known for the year.

 

 

U.S.A. Standing Liberty Quarter, Type Two. 1917.(2x) Finest known for the date.

 

The transition from the Victorian era to the "flappers" would take a while. The old guard at the mint had held positions that had been handed down from father to son (in the case of the Barbers) and positions were often considered lifetime appointments in the old world tradition. When Pres. Teddy Roosevelt went outside the mint to engage artists and engravers for the revamping of U.S. coins, he went to a group of artists that were downright scandalous! These men were apt to go out with actresses and even marry them! They might even convince respectable women friends to disrobe and model for art works!! This might be allowed for works that would be displayed in Paris or Rome , but not on U.S. coinage. When Miss Liberty stepped off the boat and almost stepped out of her gown as well, the buzz in the halls of Congress was only surpassed by the roar from the wives of some of the guardians of the constitution. The scanty gown could stay but the bare breast had to go. So, on pretext that the coin didn't strike up well and that the head needed to be reworked, the Standing Liberty Quarter fell victim to the "first year of issue" jinx. (The 1916 issue coin in MS+ condition with "Full Head" is my favourite of all U.S. circulation coins). Not only was Miss Liberty forced into a shirt of mail, her sassy "flip" hair style was also cut into a more conservative do. A 1916 issue, mintage: 52,000, will cost a small fortune in any condition but the 1917-P issue (mintage 8.7 million) is the best struck of the Type Ones and is available at reasonable cost in high grades. The two branch mints also issued coins in 1917 of both types. The Denver coin is usually found better struck than the San Francisco issues but neither mints' offerings come up to the quality of strike that came out of the Philadelphia mint.

 

Closeup of U.S.A. Standing Liberty Quarter 1918-over-7 variety. *

 

Pattern for the 1916 Standing Liberty Quarter. Until nearly Nov. 1, 1916 , MacNeil was still providing patterns - of which several exist - for the approval of the mint officials. The very low mintage of only 52,000 in 1916 indicates the use of only one or two working dies and the whole issue probably a "trial balloon" at the time. Even as the 1916 quarters appeared, dealers were asking a dollar each for them.   The pattern to the left, incidentally, was found in circulation in the 1960s(!) but the lack of wear indicates that it got there by rather mysterious means.

 

The reworking of the obverse was not enough for the critics. The reverse also underwent a change that moved the eagle in flight (a statement that the country is at war), from a lower more powerful position to a higher crowded situation, with three stars beneath. The reworking of the coin was not complete until mid-1917.

The series continued unchanged until 1925 when the date was recessed to protect it from excessive wear. It is not unusual to find Standing Liberty Quarters with the date missing even in VG to Fine condition. The entire production of Standing Liberty Quarters was less than 300 million coins. Any one of the branch mints in the U.S. puts out more coins than that in one year today!!. This series is underrated and high grade coins with low mintages can still be had for low premiums.

* Editor's note: Twentieth century overdates were not the result of punching in a new figure "to save dies". John Sinnock, chief engraver at the mint during mid-century, explained how these happened: since every working die requires at least two pressings in the "hubbing press", the die removed and heat-softened in between, it sometimes happened that the first pressing was given just before the changeover in date (about Sept. 1) and the second after the date had been changed over. This was the case for the 1918/7 Standing Liberty Quarter as well as both the 1942/1 and 1942/1-D dimes. In some cases, later pressings gave rise to doublings of some features ("hub doubling") such as the famous 1955-Double Die Lincoln cent.

Wayne Jacobs is numismatic expert. He is the award winning author of numerous articles. He is the secretary and editor of the "Mid-Island Coin Club Numismatic Journal"of Nanaimo, Vancouver Island , British Columbia. The MICC journal are hosted here: MICC webpages Copyright 2006 Wayne Jacobs. This article may be reprinted freely for non commercial purpose only if the resource box is left intact, linking back to us.