Barber
Half Dollars
 1892-O Barber Half Dollar 12.5 grams; .900 silver; 30.6 mm |
"Liberty Head (Barber) designs appeared on United States minor silver coinage (the dime, quarter, and half dollar) from 1892 to 1916. They derive their common name from their designer, Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber. In 1887, Mint Director James P. Kimball included a statement in his annual report to the United States Congress requesting a coinage redesign. He proposed a process whereby distinguished artists would be invited to participate in the design process, and, in 1890, the United States Department of the Treasury asked ten eminent American artists to submit design proposals for minor silver coinage. However, this plan proved unworkable when the artists made financial demands that the Treasury was unwilling to meet. The next effort was a contest open to the public, but none of the designs submitted in this manner were satisfactory to the Mint. Ultimately, it fell to Charles Barber to create new designs for silver coinage. He did so, and the designs were first placed into production in 1892. The basic obverse design of the Barber silver coinage consisted of a Liberty head with a cap and wreath. This figure was inspired both by classical Greek and Roman models and by the designs of various 19th-century French coinage. The word LIBERTY appeared on the headband in incuse; since it wears relatively quickly in circulation, it is often used by numismatists to help determine the condition of circulated coins. The Liberty head is flanked by six stars on the left and seven on the right, and the motto IN GOD WE TRUST appears above it. The date is centered below the figure . . . On the quarter and half dollar, a heraldic eagle, similar to that featured on the Great Seal of the United States, is the central design element, with QUARTER DOLLAR or HALF DOLLAR and the mint mark (if any) located beneath it. As on the Great Seal, the eagle carries a banner in its beak reading E PLURIBUS UNUM, and the amount of the motto visible is helpful to numismatic graders in determining the condition of circulated specimens. A field of 13 stars (the same number as on the obverse, representing the 13 original American colonies) appears above the eagle, and on the top edge, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is inscribed . . ." — United States Barber coinage at Wikipedia. This version was edited and (or) revised by Mintmark.com
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