Ruben Safir Coins Collection: Barber Quarter Dollars

Coin Collecting at the Safir House
Barber Half Dollars

The Barber's where a family that served as cheif engravers for the US Mint for much of the middle 19th century and worthy a substantial write up which is covered in the section of Barber Half Dollars. What I find nice about these coins, especially the quarter dollars, is that the coins wear with use very nicely, perhaps nicer than any other design ever created worldwide. This was part of the guiness of the Barbers. While it was complained that their designs were mundane, they had expert and asthetic focus on the life cycle of coins in commerce. And their work shows their attention to this detail. Unlike nearly any other artists who designed coins, they understood that coins circulate and the designs needed to continue to be attractive and viewable as they moved through their life cycle. This caused a lot of head butting with later designs which had significant problems with wear include many beloved designs which honestly didn't wear well, including the Buffalo Nickel and Standing Liberty Quarter.

These are some nicely worn Barber Quarters, which have a lovely ghostly look and nice tone

This is the 1903 New Orlean's Barber Quarter