Random Thought about the 1913 Liberty Nickels
The_Dinosaur_Man
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I recently saw a post on Facebook asking about the origins of these pieces, and of course the truth will probably never be known, but the thought occurred to me - what if Barber made them himself?
What if the dies and pieces were made because he expected the upcoming or recently released Buffalo nickel to fail?
A couple of supporting points in this regard...
1) The Liberty Nickel was the first of his quartet of designs to be replaced. A couple of years later, the rest of the designs would also be replaced due to a pretty controversial misreading of coinage laws. He is also likely to have started considering retirement at this point too and saw his legacy starting to come undone.
2) As an Engraver, Barber likely recognized the two primary issues with the new Buffalo design, that being the date and denominations were the highest parts of the design and susceptible to being worn off prematurely. It is important to note that James Earle Fraser was a Sculptor first. Surely, this could have lead to a contrast between professions. As we know, the Buffalo design was modified to have Five Cents recessed below a plain within that same first year.
I've read in a few places that the 1913 Liberty Heads were made after the debut of the Buffalo Nickel. Could they have been made around the same time that the Buffalo Nickel was being reworked into Type 2 while that style was still being finalized?
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Samuel Brown made them and displayed them at the 1920 ANA, which was conveniently after the 7 year statute of limitations for theft had expired.
There have always been some late night shenanigans within the mint, and this is a great thought to propose. As a Barber follower I'm more inclined towards the Washington design he patterned in 1866 and again in 1909-1910. Since neither gained traction beyond the pattern stage, and realizing his uneasyness towards others when it came to new designs, your theory does seems plausible. Now that you've asked, I'll reach out to John Frost president of the Barber Collectors Society (which I'm a long time member). If anyone could shed light on this it would be him.
Imagine that Barber made or had the dies made as a backup, but I doubt that he struck the coins.
People love the Buffalo design, but the mint personnel didn’t. It was hard to strike well. As soon as its 25 years were up, the mint was looking for a change.
@Morgan White I'm going to cast some doubt on Samuel Brown making the coins. From what I can find so far, his role at the Mint was as Assistant Curator of the Mint Cabinet. I trust that he was involved in their production because of that role and anticipated keeping them in the collection until it was determined that there would be no record of their being made.
Without the record, there is no reason why he couldn't take them home and hold onto them for those seven years anyways.
I'd like to add further to my original thoughts regarding the relationship between Barber as an Engraver and hired Sculptors in that he did have to rework the Saint-Gaudens $20 to make it better suited for regular coinage. That experience could have made him adverse to the Buffalo nickel as well.
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What's the legality of the five? Legal or not
(Yes, I like them as well)
Great idea. Do you know if anyone has written a book about Charles E. Barber?
Einstein’s view of God was non-traditional and pantheistic, focusing on the harmony, order, and intelligibility of the cosmos rather than a personal deity. His quotes reveal a profound respect for the universe’s mysteries, a belief in rational laws, and a moral philosophy grounded in compassion and understanding, bridging science and spirituality.
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I see this entry in source information for Barber's Wikipedia write-up:
Frost, John (Summer 2018). "Searching for Charles Barber, Part 2 - The European Trip of 1905". Journal of the Barber Coin Collectors' Society. 29: 20–29.
I was a member of BCCS for a number of years in the early days. I still have all the quarterly journals I received as a member starting with #1. Frost should write a book about Barber. I would buy it.
Einstein’s view of God was non-traditional and pantheistic, focusing on the harmony, order, and intelligibility of the cosmos rather than a personal deity. His quotes reveal a profound respect for the universe’s mysteries, a belief in rational laws, and a moral philosophy grounded in compassion and understanding, bridging science and spirituality.
“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.”
Albert Einstein (14 March 1879--18 April 1955)
One more thought from yours truly regarding Samuel Brown's involvement. In 1924 and 1925, he served on the Assay commission. If, as curator, he also had the duty of delivering new issues to the 1913 Assay Commission, that could be how he ended up with the coins.
I still don't think he made them himself because of the difference in strikes, i.e. the Proof and Business strike versions.
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/PersonDetail/346#:~:text=He was assistant curator of,1913 Liberty Nickel for $500.
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Did the actual die sinker have the machinery to make a few test impressions before the final delivery to the mint presses?
Not that I have heard of, though I suppose that it is possible. Then of course there was always the old screw press used by the Medal Department.
In working on my book on the cents of 1922 I looked through the Denver Mint's Die Register going back to 1911. and it was customary for the Philadelphia Mint to provide it with dies for the upcoming year before the end of the preceding year, just so that the Mint would have something to work with when the new year started. I cannot lay my hands on my copy of the die register at the moment, but I seem to recall that in one year Denver received dies for the upcoming year as early at very late November. This is how Denver came to strike 1922-D cents starting on the first business day of 1922, Jan. 3, when the anticipated production of 1922-D Peace Dollars was very suddenly postponed.
So, it is quite possible that the production of one or more 1913 Liberty Head Nickel obverse dies was quite normal and innocent. How it/they came to be used is the question.
TD