Engraver of the United States Mint at Philadelphia for nearly fifty years,
Charles Barber amassed a collection of more than 200
pattern coins,
and almost no one knew about it.
Charles Edward
Barber was Engraver of the United States Mint at Philadelphia from 1879 to 1917. During his
long career, he was able to assemble an excellent collection of pattern and
experimental coins produced at the Mint. Some were the work
of his father, William Barber, others from his own hand, and a smattering of
examples from George Morgan, James Longacre and
Anthony Pacquet.
Barber does not
seem to have been a collector in the sense of wanting to display his coins to
others or participate in discussions with other hobbyists. Few people outside
of his immediate family were aware of Barber’s collection until an obituary
notice in the Philadelphia Inquirer mentioned the he had a “splendid collection of
patterns.”
In 1991 Stack’s
Inc, a major New York
coin dealer, donated a collection of Charles Barber’s personal papers to the
Smithsonian. Photocopies were also provided to the ANA and ANS courtesy of
David Ganz. Among the papers were two small
notebooks: one for coins and the other listing medals. The coin book is
evidently a record of the coins owned by Barber in late 1916 or early 1917. The
entries are approximately grouped by coin denomination, although there appears
to be little other organization to the lists. There are also several different
handwriting styles suggesting that more than one person made the notations. The
overall impression is of a list made as coins were
pulled from a box and described by Barber as someone else made quick notations.
The present author feels that the notebook is simply an ad-hoc list made at the time coins were removed from storage boxes.
The lack of order or structure suggests the coins were personal souvenirs and
not a true historical collection.
An interesting feature of Barber’s collection the large number of
specimens of the Saint-Gaudens experimental ("pattern") double eagle, and four copies of the rejected
Columbian Exposition Special Award medal. For someone who held a deep
distrust and animosity toward the sculptor, Barber did not stint on investing
in his coins.
The table which
follows lists all of the legible entries in Barber’s pattern coin notebook. The
notation is as close to Barber’s as possible including abbreviations. Where an
entry is partially legible, the omitted characters are represented by “x”.
Pattern numbers for the 8th Edition of Judd’s U.S. Patterns have
been provided by Saul Teichman.
Date
Description
Quan.
Possible
Judd Pattern Number & Author’s Comment
Page A
Nickels
1882
E.P.U. over V
7
J1684
1883
Liberty over Head
2
J1714
1882
E.P.U. over V.
Large [Plch]
5
J1680
1882
E.P.U. over V.Copper Large [Plch]
3
J1681
1883
75 N[ickel], 25 C[opper] Alum[inum]
4
J1709
1882
I.G.W.T. over Head
3
J1677
1883
Pure nickel
1
J1704
1883
33 N[ickel], 67 C[opper]
2
J1712
1883
50 N[ickel], 50 C[opper]
2
J1710
1882
Ray type
3
J1693
1883
Cents over V
5
J1717
xx83
75 N[ickel], 25 C[opper]
5
J1707
xx71
V Nickel
1
J1050
xx71
V Copper
2
J1051
xx71
5 cents, copper
3
J1054
xxx3
Liberty over head, copper
2
J1715
xxxx
3-cent Head V
Page B
1881
I, III, V Copper
J1666/J1669/J1672
1881
I, III, V Nickel
2
J1665/J1668/J1671
1896
Nickel 5-cent
3
J1770
1896
Nickel 1-cent
2
J1767
1884
E. Johnson 1-cent
large plan[chet]
3
J1721
1884
E. Johnson 1-cent
thin plan[chet]
4
J1721
1884
5-cent
3
J1724
1884
5-cent & 1-cent
Alum[inum]
J1722/J1725
1881
V, III (2), I,
Alum[inum]
J1667/J1670/J1673
1869
III Large Planchet
J676
1869
III C[ent] nickel
1881
III C[ent] nickel
J1665
1869
1-cent C[opper]
2
J667
1883
5-cent without word
“cent”
1863
1-cent
3
1883
5-cent, (4)
regular, (2) without word “cent”
1913
Buffalo nickel (2), (1) re B. nickel, ob.
blank
Second entry means:
reverse of Buffalo
nickel, obverse blank, ie: a uniface piece showing
only the reverse design. – Pollock 3533?
Facing page B
1900
Ob 5-cent - re blank
Uniface, obverse of
Liberty
nickel
1900
(1) Re 5-cent – ob
blank
Uniface, reverse of
Liberty
nickel
Page C
1870
Barber Standard Set
$1, 50, 25, 10, 5
J809/J825/J876/J927/J996
1871
Longacre $, ½, ¼, 10-cent, 5-cent silver
1870
Standard Sets:
3-50, 3-25, 3-10
1873
Set of 6 Trade
Silver $
2
J1276/J1281/J1293/J1310/J1315/J1322
1882
$, ½, ¼ Copper
J1699/J1701/J1703
1872
$, ½, ¼ Amazonian
Silver
J1195/J1200/J1205
1870
Barber rvreg issue 50, 25, 10, 5
J815/J831/J882/J933
1870
Barber same
J815/J831/J882/J933
1870
Half Dime Copper,
Barber
J811 or J817
1892
Columbian Half
dollar
1893
Columbian quarter
dollar
2
1869-70
Standard Silver
10-cent
12
1916
Proof 10-cent
1
J1981 or J1984
(J1794), or is this the regular issue Liberty Head?
1869-70
Silver ¼ $
2
1869
Standard Silver
50-cent (3); 25-cent (2); 10-cent (2)
J1557 or
J1560/1.Does this mean .900 fine
silver alloy?
1878
U. S. $ I.G.W.T
above eagle, Morgan
1878
U. S. $ E. Pluribus
Unum on periphery
Page F
20-Cent
1875
Sailor Head,
20-cents on shield
J1392
1875
Reg Issue
2
N/A
Small Date. Pattern
of adopted design
J1411
1875
Rv 20-cents, Sil[ver]
J1403 ?
1875
Rv 1/5 $, Sil[ver]
J1396 or J1407
1875
Rv 1/5 $, Copper
2
J1397 or J1408
1875
Rv 20-cents, Copper
2
J1404 ?
1875
Rv 20-cents, Silver
These three
bracketed by a large “?” to right
1874
RegRv, silver
J1354
1974
Regrv, copper
J1355
1869-70
25-cents, standard
silver
10
1869-70
25-cents, standard
silver
2
1916
Proof 25-cents
1
J1989 (J1795) or
J1988 (J1796a), or is this the regular issue Liberty Head?
Page G
1868
Eagle. Copper
J662
1874
Bickford $10.
Copper
J1374
1859
Pacquet - $20
J257
1876
Dimes. CC. Silver. Reg
3
Three Carson City mint dimes
(No P #)
1874
20-cent . Bailey ov, Barber rv
J1354
1879
20$. 30 grammes
J1644
1869
10-cents
N/D
Set ½, (2) ¼, (2)
10-cent
187[2]?
$20, $10, 5, 3, 2,
1
probably a
regular gold proof set
1870
$1 Silver ob
Obverse only of
silver dollar
Page H
U. S.
Coins Continued
1907
$20 pattern pieces.
Fig Lib on Ob
4
J1909 (J1778)
1907
$10 pattern piece.
Only 50 made
1
J1903 (J1775)
1907
$10 pattern piece.
Only 550 made
1
J1901 (J1774)
1907
$20 pattern pieces.
Fig Lib on Ob
4
J1909 (J1778)
1907
$20 pattern piece.
Head lib on ob
1
J1905 (J1776)
1912
$10 pattern pieces
1
“Face Value” in
right margin bracketing these four items. Does he mean “sandblast proof”??
1913
$10 pattern pieces
1
“Face Value” in
right margin bracketing these four items. Does he mean “sandblast proof”??
1900
$10 gold piece
1
“Face Value” in
right margin bracketing these four items.
1898
$5 gold piece
1
“Face Value” in
right margin bracketing these four items.
St. Gaudens
Columbia award medals ob & rv St G’s designs; rv not accepted.
4 ?
In cases in left
margin
Sample from page H showing the 1907 patterns.
The pattern
collection presents several interesting situations with regard to the 20th
Century examples. If all eight of the Saint-Gaudens 1907 $20 patterns were
Extremely High Relief versions (from the #1 models), then none of these coins
were on the collector’s market until at least late 1916. That means the number
of specimens known as of early 1908 was only 10 or 11 pieces, all but three of
which can be accounted for as far as the original owners are concerned.
Additionally, these coins were usually referred to as “experimentals”
by Barber and the Mint Bureau in 1907, and not as “patterns.” (Barber did not seem to accept them as prototypes for new
circulating coin designs until late 1907.)
A second unusual situation
concerns the 1916 “proofs.” The four “different” half dollars must refer to
four of the five pattern obverse deigns made by Weinman and the Mint for the
Walking Liberty half dollar. (Weinman made three and the Mint Engraving
Department concocted two more.) Since no Liberty Head design half dollar dies
were made in 1916, it is reasonable to assume the coins referred to are Walking
Liberty patterns. However, nothing in Barber’s notebook says the dime or quarter are of the new designs, and they could easily have
been from the old Liberty
head design. Also, during 1916 the term “proof” was not used in relation to the
new design patterns, both MacNeil and Weinman objected to the first set of
polished or “rubbed” coins, and all subsequent pieces were left just as they
came from the dies.
The third issue
is one of nomenclature. When did the terms “Sailor head,” “Amazonian,” and
“Bickford” come into use by pattern collectors?
The
author actively encourages comment, clarification, and extension of the above information. It would also be very enlightening to know if any modern collections contain pattern coins which can be attributed to Barber’s collection, or if the 1878 Goloid in .900 fine silver (?), or 1878 dollar with lettered edge exist.
* * * * * *
Contact: Roger
Burdette, accurateye@aol.com
Source: Charles E. Barber papers. Part One: Coins and Patterns Barber Owned.American Numismatic Association
Colorado Springs, CO. www.money.org.
