The following article is reprinted from the Journal of the Barber Coin Collectors' Society, Volume 17, Number 3.

The following article contains the results of the Census and Rarity Survey of Barber Quarters. It is made available here because the Census and Rarity Survey was open to the general collecting public, not just the members of the BCCS.

During the beginning of 2006, the BCCS conducted a Census and Rarity Survey of Barber Quarters. With the last survey being over a decade ago, the primary purpose was to update our knowledge of the series as to both the populations of coins already in collectors’ hands, and also the opinions of collectors as to the relative scarcity of the different dates in a wide range of grades. This is the first of four planned surveys to be conducted over the next couple of years.

This project consisted of two parts:

• A Census for collectors to report their holdings for each date and grade level

• A Rarity Survey for collectors to express their opinions as to the relative scarcity of the different dates in the series in various grades.

There was a very strong response to the survey, with 120 collectors reporting over 12,000 coins! With the survey being open to the general public, 30 guests participated via the BCCS website in addition to 80 BCCS members, a few of which later joined the Society.

While the Census data provides very interesting and useful information, care should be taken when making use of this information. There are a number of important caveats that must be considered. These were so well described by friend Stephen Crain in the LSCC’s Gobrecht Journal (Vol. 32, #95, Liberty Seated Half Dime Survey Results), that instead of me writing something different (but not articulated as well), I will rather paraphrase parts of his key points, with his kind permission that is greatly appreciated.

Limited sampling: Many collectors possess Barber Quarters as type coins, and others have them as part of a year set (e.g., 1899). Lots more are in the hands of people that inherited them from grandparents, and the like. Although this survey was open to all collectors (not just BCCS members), only those guests who attended a BCCS meeting at a coin show, discovered our web site, or who read about the survey in Coin World or by word of mouth, participated in the survey (or have even heard of BCCS). Therefore, the majority of holders of Barber Quarters did not participate in the survey, and all of those coins are not represented here.

On or off the market: One assumption that is often made by readers is that a coin Census represents a cross section of the coins generally available in the marketplace. This, of course, is not true, as the reported coins are those that are already in collections and thus off the market. For the keys and semi-keys, which perhaps were acquired after a long search, they are often impounded in collections and off the market for a very long time.

One collector, one coin: Most collectors simply don’t buy coins in proportion to those on the market. Many people are putting together a set, in which case they will often buy only one specimen of each date and mint. However, if the collector believes certain dates are scarce and undervalued, he or she may purchase additional examples as an investment, or for later trades with other collectors. This can result in a collector possessing more examples of the scarcer dates than the common ones. Even if this doesn’t happen, the rare dates will appear to be equally available as common dates.

Upgrading: Many collectors strive for coins in a certain grade range. However, they may have to settle for a different (usually lower) grade of the scarcer dates until they find one in the desired grade, often after a long search. Once upgraded, many collectors will keep the duplicates of the keys and semi-keys for future trades. For the common readily-available dates, most collectors will simply wait to purchase pieces in the desired grade. Again, this would tend to skew the census in favor of the scarcer dates.

Hoarding: Some collectors have an interest in certain dates. Others may have affinity for coins produced at certain mints. However, most hoarding seems to occur with issues that are considered scarce and undervalued.

Therefore, when trying to interpret the Census, one must bear the previous points in mind. It is for these reasons that we also conducted the Rarity Survey as a complement to the Census.

12,711 coins were reported by 120 participants. 19 people reported complete sets, and three of those people had two complete sets. 21 other people had complete sets minus only one or more of the “Big 3” (1896-S, 1901-S, 1913-S), and two of those people nearly had two complete sets.

Total Barber Quarters reported by grade:

AG	G	VG	F	VF	XF	AU	MS	PF	Total
1609	4062	1971	1361	1424	914	741	568	61	12,711

Some additional details and observations

To nobody’s surprise, the 1901-S leads the list, with only 42 specimens reported in the census, nearly half that of the number two 1913-S with 77. 1896-S was a close third at 83 coins. The 1901-S also was the show-stopper with many people in completing their sets. The most reported date in the survey was the 1916-D, with 367 pieces, again matching the consensus of being the most common in the series.

We also attempted to discern if any die pairings of the Big 3 might be scarcer than the other, since each of the three was struck from only two die pairs. The results from the coins specified by die pairings include:

• 1896-S: 29 coins (64%) reported from Die Pair 1, 16 coins (36%) from Die Pair 2 (the remaining 38 coins not specified)

• 1901-S: 9 coins (50%) reported from Die Pair A, 9 coins (50%) from Die Pair B.

• 1913-S: 21 coins (66%) reported from Die Pair 1, 11 coins (34%) from Die Pair 2. Die #2 was believed to be scarcer than Die #1, and this information supports that supposition.

Original and uncleaned AU 1909-O coins were believed to be almost as rare as the 1901-S, so we asked for this separately. Of the 10 reported AU 1909-O coins, 5 were reported to be original. Although very rare, it is probably not quite that rare. The 1901-S is still king.

Most people would bet that the average grade for the Big 3 would be lower than that of the rest of the series, but as is evident from the data, the vast majority of the coins are in the AG-VG range, regardless of date. This is because many collectors have set aside a number of examples of common dates in low grades, in addition to their target set (if they are building one). Most complete sets had the Big 3 is low grades, even if the rest of the set was in mid to high circulated grades.

The 1892-S/S variety, with only six reported examples, appears to be fairly rare, or the victim of not being noticed or reported separately. The other mintmark varieties appeared in greater numbers, especially in lower grades. Photo of the 1892-S/S quarter courtesy of Steve Szcerbiak Hoarding of certain dates was fairly common in the census. By far, the two dates most subject to hoarding were 1897-S and 1909-O. Two collectors had more than 40 of these dates in AG-VG grades, and numerous others reported 5-10 examples. One collector reported five examples of 1909-O in XF-MS, with one original AU.

Other dates that were hoarded (in numbers more than 20) included 1911-D and 1911-S. Even the Big 3 were hoarded to some extent. One person reported four 1901-S in AG-XF, and another with three VG to MS. The champion hoarder of key dates reported 18 examples of 1896-S, plus 8 examples of 1913-S, and 14 of 1914-S – all in AG-VG grades.

To supplement the Census and help collectors set expectations on how easy or difficult some coins will be to find in certain grades, we also conducted a Rarity Survey, where collectors could offer their opinion of relatively availability of the better date coins. Here they could express how difficult it was for them to find certain coins (or those they have been looking for without success). We did not poll for common dates. Rarity Rating definitions accompany the results.

The Rarity Survey got better results than I had hoped. Many collectors only expressed opinions on specific grade ranges that they have been actively looking for, and others only on the specific dates that they have an interest in.

There were many people that stated that the Rarity Ratings listed in The Complete Guide to Barber Quarters, 2nd Edition, by David Lawrence, were mostly still accurate, and only provided opinions for the coins they believed had changed since the book was written.

There were no great surprises, and there was a lot of consensus among Rarity Survey respondents. Some dates had minor shifts in ratings, often between R2 and R3, or R3 and R4, but nothing dramatic at all. All in all, this writer believes we got excellent results.

To publish the rarity ratings for the entire series in one place, we have added the ratings for the common dates (from earlier works) to the results of the current survey of better dates.

R1: Common date and grade
R2: Better date and grade
R3: Tough date – available, but may require some looking
R4: Scarce – may or may not find at larger shows/auctions
R5: Very scarce – only a few offered for sale each year
R6: Almost never seen – only one or two may be offered for sale in a year’s time
R7: Rare – a single specimen might, on average, be offered for sale once every few years

Date	AG	G	VG	F	VF	XF	AU	MS
1892	-	R1	R1	R2	R2	R1	R1	R1
1892-O	-	R2	R2	R2	R2	R2	R2	R1
1892-S	-	R3	R3	R4	R4	R4	R4	R4
1893	-	R1	R2	R2	R3	R2	R2	R1
1893-O	-	R1	R2	R2	R3	R3	R3	R2
1893-S	-	R2	R3	R3	R4	R4	R4	R4
1894	-	R1	R2	R2	R2	R3	R3	R2
1894-O	-	R2	R3	R3	R3	R4	R4	R4
1894-S	-	R2	R2	R3	R3	R3	R3	R3
1895	-	R1	R1	R2	R2	R3	R3	R2
1895-O	-	R2	R2	R3	R3	R4	R4	R4
1895-S	-	R2	R3	R3	R3	R4	R4	R4
1896	-	R1	R1	R2	R2	R2	R2	R2
1896-O	-	R2	R2	R3	R4	R5	R5	R5
1896-S	-	R3	R4	R4	R5	R5	R5	R5
1897	-	R1	R1	R2	R2	R3	R3	R2
1897-O	-	R2	R3	R4	R4	R5	R5	R5
1897-S	-	R3	R3	R4	R5	R5	R5	R5
1898	-	R1	R1	R2	R2	R2	R2	R1
1898-O	-	R2	R3	R3	R4	R4	R4	R5
1898-S	-	R2	R2	R3	R3	R4	R4	R6
1899	-	R1	R1	R2	R2	R2	R2	R1
1899-O	-	R2	R2	R3	R3	R3	R4	R4
1899-S	-	R2	R3	R3	R3	R4	R4	R5
1900	-	R1	R1	R2	R2	R2	R2	R1
1900-O	-	R2	R3	R3	R4	R4	R4	R3
1900-S	-	R2	R2	R3	R3	R3	R3	R4
1901	-	R1	R1	R2	R2	R2	R2	R2
1901-O	-	R2	R3	R4	R4	R5	R5	R5
1901-S	R3	R4	R4	R5	R6	R6	R7	R6
1902	-	R1	R1	R2	R2	R2	R2	R1
1902-O	-	R2	R2	R3	R3	R4	R3	R4
1902-S	-	R2	R2	R3	R4	R4	R4	R4
1903	-	R1	R2	R3	R3	R3	R3	R3
1903-O	-	R2	R2	R3	R3	R3	R3	R4
1903-S	-	R2	R3	R3	R3	R4	R4	R3
1904	-	R1	R1	R2	R2	R2	R3	R2
1904-O	-	R2	R3	R3	R4	R4	R5	R4
1905	-	R1	R1	R2	R2	R2	R2	R2
1905-O	-	R2	R3	R4	R4	R4	R5	R5
1905-S	-	R2	R2	R3	R3	R3	R4	R4
1906	-	R1	R2	R2	R3	R3	R3	R1
1906-D	-	R1	R2	R3	R3	R3	R3	R3
1906-O	-	R2	R2	R3	R3	R4	R4	R3
1907	-	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1
1907-D	-	R2	R3	R3	R3	R4	R4	R4
1907-O	-	R2	R2	R3	R3	R3	R3	R3
1907-S	-	R2	R2	R3	R3	R4	R5	R4
1908	-	R1	R1	R2	R2	R3	R1	R1
1908-D	-	R1	R1	R2	R2	R2	R2	R2
1908-O	-	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1
1908-S	-	R3	R3	R4	R4	R5	R5	R5
1909	-	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1
1909-D	-	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1
1909-O	-	R3	R3	R4	R4	R5	R6	R5
1909-S	-	R2	R2	R3	R3	R4	R4	R4
1910	-	R1	R2	R2	R2	R3	R3	R2
1910-D	-	R2	R2	R3	R3	R4	R4	R4
1911	-	R1	R1	R2	R2	R2	R2	R1
1911-D	-	R2	R2	R4	R4	R5	R5	R4
1911-S	-	R2	R3	R3	R4	R4	R5	R3
1912	-	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1
1912-S	-	R2	R2	R3	R4	R4	R4	R4
1913	-	R2	R3	R3	R4	R4	R5	R4
1913-D	-	R2	R3	R3	R3	R3	R4	R2
1913-S	-	R4	R4	R5	R5	R7	R6	R4
1914	-	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1
1914-D	-	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1
1914-S	-	R2	R3	R4	R4	R5	R5	R4
1915	-	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1
1915-D	-	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1
1915-S	-	R1	R2	R3	R3	R3	R4	R3
1916	-	R1	R1	R2	R2	R2	R2	R1
1916-D	-	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1	R1

There were some changes to some of the key dates since the last BCCS Rarity Survey and Dave’s Complete Guide book. A number of the dates and grades that had previously been listed with high rarity ratings have fallen slightly. Remembering the definitions, any coin with a rarity rating above R5 is extremely difficult to find, and only a select few dates and grades are really worthy of that distinction.

In fact, only two of the entries from previous works have retained their R7 status in this new survey: the 1901-S in AU, and the 1913-S in XF. And the data seems to support these two entries. Only one respondent to the census reported a 1901-S in AU, the only date and grade combination represented in the census by a single coin. Amazing. As for the 1913-S, when Dave wrote the 2nd Edition of his book, there was only a single XF specimen certified by PCGS and NGC combined (March 1993). By the beginning of 2006, 13 years later, there were just two – only a single example had been added over the next 13 years! These facts would tend to validate both of the R7 designations.

AU rarity ratings for 1896-S, 1897-S, and 1909-O have all fallen from the very lofty R7 to R5 or R6. In the case of 1896-S, a hoard of about a dozen AU coins surfaced over 5 years ago – one rumor said the hoard was from Hawaii. These coins were quickly absorbed into the market and dispersed. Perhaps this accounted for the drop in the ratings for that one date (although only 4 AU coins were reported in this census). 1909-O in AU fell to a high R6. The coins reported in the census are probably off the market for a long time to come, and finding another AU will be formidable, which is why some still felt the coin deserved the R7 rating. Still, it fell just short of that designation.

The 1901-S has fallen in perceived rarity in low grades. One respondent noted, “There seemed to be a glut of AG-VG coins on the market this past year, probably because the huge price increases the past couple of years have brought so many pieces out of hiding.” Another collector agreed: “There have probably been more low-grade 1901-S quarters available during the past 2 years than were available the prior 10 [years]. However Fine to AU coins are still almost never seen!” 1896-S in Good has fallen to R3, and the 1913-S nearly did as well. All likely due to price increases coaxing some long-time owners to sell their coins (or at least some of their lower-grade duplicates).

In mint state grades, respondents gave an R6 rating to only two coins – the 1901-S and the 1898-S. 1896-S fell from R6 into the high R5 range with this survey. Perhaps a few recent auction appearances for the 1896-S swayed the survey participants.

One comment from a collector about the 1898-S specifically (useful to keep in mind when regarding the coin retaining its R6 status in Mint State): “The population reports are getting more and more misleading. In addition to resubmissions, many of the lower ‘MS’ slabbed 1898-S quarters are sliders and not true Uncs. The coin is much scarcer in Unc. than the population reports would indicate.” This writer agrees with his point. After years of looking at numerous 1898-S MS61-63 slabs from all services that contained sliders (and some cleaned AU coins), I finally bought an MS62 raw at an auction, and had to pay a very generous price to get it.

This Census and Rarity Survey was intended to provide collectors of Barber Quarters additional and updated information that will help them understand the relative availability and scarcity of the different issues in all of the major grade ranges. Due to the impressive participation, along with the quality of the responses, I think we did that.

Please use the results in any manner that will be useful for your purposes, and we hope that the results will prove to be valuable information for you.

We look forward to conducting a Census and Rarity Survey for each of the remaining Barber series over the next couple of years. I will admit that this project was a lot more work than I originally anticipated, but this was mainly due to the volume of the responses. We have learned a number of things during this project that will make the future surveys a little less complicated.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this project.

  Barber Coin Collectors' Society      --      Founded 1989      --      Email:   bccs@BarberCoins.org