1896-S Barber Quarter (1892-1916)

Intriguing History

By 1896, the Panic of 1893 had triggered the worst economic depression the country had yet seen, forcing repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act and fueling the era's bitter "free silver" political fight, which reached its peak in William Jennings Bryan's 1896 "Cross of Gold" campaign. This Barber quarter was doing steady, unglamorous work as pocket change through exactly this period. This one came from the San Francisco Mint, opened in 1854 to coin the flood of West Coast bullion.