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William Barber served as the Chief Engraver, to the US Mint, from 1869-1879, before passing the torch to his son, Charles Barber. In just the short ten years as Chief Engraver, Barber was responsible for a history-breaking coin design. Being one of the only designs to grace all current denominations, the Barber design was inspired by the Grecian goddess, Liberty, who has been admired and loved by warriors since the beginning of time. Liberty wears an Acanthus leaf cap as a crown, which was very common in ancient Greece, and the "United States of America," and the coin's mint date are also simply stamped on the obverse. The reverse contains the nation's official seal, which is of a heraldic eagle holding a shield. Each of the eagle's talons are grasping a symbolic gesture: olive branches and arrows.
With a relatively high mintage, the 1892 Barber Quarter has a mintage of over 8 million and was the first quarter of the Barber series to be minted. Being in fine condition, the 1892 Barber Quarter exhibits a worn surface on the entire coin surface, with specific details lacking such as the leaves on Liberty's headpiece. The 1892 Barber does not have a mint-mark, since it was minted at the Philadelphia Mint. The Philadelphia Mint was the first mint to be established in the US so it didn't mark its coins with a mint-mark. The US desperately needed an identity but also a means to international commerce so the Founding Fathers decided that a national mint was the answer. The Mint Act officially announced the opening of the Philadelphia Mint and also instituted guidelines for the newly minted currency. One requirement initiated in the Mint Act is that an emblematic symbol of liberty must be included on US currency, hence why so many adaptations of Liberty have been used.