Standing Liberty Quarter Facts:
Hermon A MacNeil's namesake the Standing Liberty Quarter design (1916-30) replaced the Barber Head design run (1892-1915) in 1916, but only for the quarter. The 1916 design type hit the coinage scene with a splash and not a good one at that. Since the standing liberty sported a bare breast, there was a public out cry against the revealing figure of a woman on a US Coin, and the out cry was large enough for a design modification in 1917.
The 1916 had an extremely low mintage of 52,000 coins, of which, most are circulated or have been lost over the course of time. Considering the low mintage, then the survival rate of this particular date, the 1916 value is still a bargain when it comes to rarities, but the value has and will continue to increase. So if you collect Standing Liberty Quarters and desire a complete collection then you should consider the 1916 your first purchase for your collection before it rises even more.
Many collectors opt for a no date example, because they can be least expensive, but since the design did not change much until shortly into the 1917 mintage run then you can mistake a no date 1917 Type 1 as a 1916. Here's a guide for identifying actual 1916 no date examples click here
Standing Liberty Quarter collectors should also know that there's a Type 1 (Bare Breast) and Type 2 (Chain Mail Breast) varieties for the dates 1917, 1917-D and 1917-S with the Type 1 1917-D and 17-S are the most rare of the six.
Other semi-key dates include: 1919-D, 1919-S, 1921, 1923-S and the 1928-S. However all dates are valuable in mint state grades. Also all collectors should be aware that the 1923-S has been found as an altered 1923 where a person added or engraved an S mint mark, and there's always the possibility of any low mintage date having an altered mint mark.
There's also several different varieties for collectors to consider and the most valuable and notable is the 1918/7-S and the 1928-S/S, but there's also others: 1928-S inverted S mint mark, 1929-S Clashed Obverse Die and the 1930-S repunched mint mark (RPM).
If you would like to see each date and mint in images with corresponding mintages and values click here
SPECIFICATIONS:
Designer: Hermon A MacNeil
Diameter: 24.3 millimeters
Metal Content:
Silver - 90%
Copper - 10%
Weight: 96 grains (6.3 grams)
Edge: Reeded
Mint marks: The mint mark appears as a small letter just below the eagle's tail on the reverse, as follows:
None = Philadelphia
S = San Francisco
D = Denver