Standing Liberty Quarters (1916-1930)

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Standing Liberty Quarters (1916-1930)

While the mintages of this coin type seem small by current standards, the only date that is scarce in overall numbers is 1916, of which just 52,000 pieces were coined. Certain other dates are quite elusive in the higher grades, and any coin of this type dated before 1925 is far more scarce than its original mintage would suggest, due to a peculiarity of the design. The placement of the date atop a pedestal caused it to both strike up poorly and wear away very quickly. Within a few years, the coins became completely dateless. Beginning in 1925 the date was set within a recess that offered it some protection from wear, but continuing problems with striking sharpness and rapid die erosion doomed this coin type to a premature end.By the time that inexpensive coin boards and folders arrived on the scene in the mid-1930s, many quarters of this type made before 1925 were already dateless or had just partial dates visible. This fact, combined with the high cost of the 1916 and 1918/7-S issues, has led to this series being less popular with collectors than other coins of the same vintage. Still, the series enjoys a good following, especially among those who can afford to acquire mint state examples.There are very few documented varieties within the Standing Liberty series, the one notable exception being the famous 1918/7-S overdate. So well publicized is this variety that many consider it to be an essential part of a date-and-mint collection. The Small S and Large S varieties of 1928 don't seem to have elicited much interest, and this series is not generally associated with variety collecting. NGC will attribute the Standing Liberty Quarters varieties included in VarietyPlus. With so few varieties known for this series, the listing is presently quite small. There are no significant additions to be found in either Breen's encyclopedia or Cline's reference on this series.

References:

• Cline, J.H. Standing Liberty Quarters, 4th Edition. Irvine, CA: Zyrus Press, 2007.