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Why isn't the Liberty Head Nickel called the Barber Nickel?
Zoins
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Charles Barber designed two popular Liberty Head designs, commonly known as:
- Liberty Head Nickel
- Barber Dime, Quarter, Half Dollars
Since Barber designed both and they are both Liberty Heads:
- How come the nickel isn't called the Barber Nickel
- How come the Barber Dime, Quarter, and Halves aren't known as Liberty Head Dime, Quarter and Halves
I recently ran across a reference to a Barber Nickel and it took me a second to register what it was talking about!
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It was at one time. You can find old references to them that way. For whatever reason, the name didn't stick.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
I suspect it’s because a “1913 Barber Nickel” wouldn’t sound nearly as good.😉
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
What a deal.....design one obverse.....then just “scale it up”.
I always call them V nickels. I have also seen the Barber series referred to as Liberty as well. I guess it all depends on how the coin community wants to call them. Same reason why we have Mercury dimes instead of Winged Liberty ones.
Because.
It sound better, fwifw
At the time, a barber nick was something painful that I'm sure many peopled feared.
Mostly it's the same reason we have shortened nicknames for many things I think.
"Liberty Head", would become "Liberty" (just like the Nickels have become), but for Dimes, Quarters and Halves this would be confusing with Seated Liberty, Walking Liberty and Standing Liberty, and of course Winged Liberty (which almost no one uses). Nickels do not have this issue.
My two bits ...
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242