Hermon Atkins MacNeil - Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar of 1916
1630Boston
Posts: 14,115 ✭✭✭✭✭
Post a Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar if you like
Hermon Atkins MacNeil
Biography
Hermon Atkins MacNeil was an American sculptor born in Everett, Massachusetts. He is known for designing the Standing Liberty quarter, struck by the Mint from 1916-1930; and for sculpting Justice, the Guardian of Liberty on the east pediment of the United States Supreme Court building.
Graduate of Massachusetts State Normal School in 1886. He studied in Paris at the Julian Academy and the Ecole des Beaux- Arts. Later he studied in Rome. Married Carol Louise Brooks December 25, 1895. She died in June 1944. They had three children. Married Cecelia Weick Muench February 1946. Instructor at the Art Institute of Chicago. He opened a studio in College Point in 1947.
He sculpted the McKinley Memorial in Columbus, Ohio. MacNeal specialized in Indian subjects. He served as president of the National Sculpture Society. He won the Saltus medal from the ANS in 1923.
MacNeal designed the Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar of 1916. His design won in a competition with over 50 artists.
He died in College Point, Queens, New York.
Post a Standing Liberty Quarter Dollar if you like
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb, Ricko
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
Comments
One interesting bit of trivia is that there was no public “outrage” at the first version of the SLQ due to the bare breast. That is a numismatic myth. The change was done by MacNeal’s request.
The January 1917 issue of The Numismatist, likely sent to subscribers in December 1916, reports on the design for the new quarter, but admits that at press time none of the new subsidiary coins had been placed into circulation. An article by Henry Hettger and Susan Novac in the July/August 1994 issue of Bowers and Merena’s Rare Coin Review quotes the Jan. 17, 1917, issue of the Philadelphia Public Ledger as recording that “the new silver quarter is at hand and in circulation.” It is, therefore, likely MacNeil’s Jan. 11, 1917, letter of complaint to Von Engelken represents the artist’s first glimpse of the finished product — the 1916 Type I quarter bearing a design similar to one he discarded the prior spring. MacNeil said that after receiving the coins, he went directly to the Mint, where he “was still more surprised and interested to see the many variations that had already been on this coin, many of them arrangements that I myself had already tried and discarded.”
From “Fascinating Facts, Mysteries and Myths about U.S. Coins” by VanRyzin
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb, Ricko
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
Not an SLQ, but a MacNeil all the same. Society of Medalists third issue A Prayer for Rain (1931)
--Severian the Lame
Very nice @Weiss
He did a lot of Native American work
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb, Ricko
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...
If you check the thread ats that RWB stated he has a slightly different view.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
jom
Very nice write up @1630Boston. I only have one example in my toned type set.
.
1924-S AU58FH
..
.
CoinsAreFun Toned Silver Eagle Proof Album
.
Gallery Mint Museum, Ron Landis& Joe Rust, The beginnings of the Golden Dollar
.
More CoinsAreFun Pictorials NGC FOR SALE
I’m trying to put together a Full Head DATE set. Doing the DATE set allows me to keep the cost down via fewer coins needed, and that also allows me to go with the lower cost issue for each year. Obviously, the 1916 will be the “budget-buster”. So far I have 7 of the 14 coins. Here’s one of them:
https://caimages.collectors.com/coinimages/42396/40883751/1918_Slab.jpg
https://caimages.collectors.com/coinimages/42396/40883751/1918_rev.jpg
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
Please elaborate?😉
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
MacNeil gained a great reputation internationally while in Rome for his portrayals of Indians, receiving many awards for his bronzes. Upon his return to the United States, he received many commissions and even more awards. After 1910, he stopped sculpting Indians as he received more commissions for memorials, such as one of Ezra Cornell for the campus of Cornell University and another of President McKinley for placement in Columbus, Ohio.
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb, Ricko
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
@winesteven ... That is an exceptional SLQ.... I have been thinking of adding one to my collection... It would have to be like that one for sure. Cheers, RickO
What makes this one so VERY special (better than the FH designation, better than the PCGS grade of MS66, even better than the CAC sticker) is it has previously been awarded the highly coveted @ricko Blast White seal!!!!!!!!
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
If I remember correctly, RWB said that McNeil changed his design because he wanted to symbolize that the United States, extended to Ms. Liberty, was preparing to get into World War I. He dressed her in armor to symbolize that.
Whatever he did, it was a shame he messed with it. The Type I Philadelphia version of his design was struck well very frequently.
After he changed it, the coin was really messed up. The detail seldom came up completely, and the date was positioned to wear off the coin very quickly. Some coins had weak dates the minute they were struck. I once had a piece in MS-63 with date almost missing. I think that it was a 1920, but it's been too many years to recall. Here is an AU example I spotted on the Internet that illustrates the problem.
Here is a better struck example.
In 1925, the mint engravers recessed the date, which made it much more durable. In the later years more coins were struck with greater detail. Still the Standing Liberty Quarter was an attractive design in high grade, at least, but it was not a practical design. There was simply too much detail on a small, regular issue coin to strike it well when it was mass produced.
Most his comments surround the who and how the design was chosen, everyone here knows where the forum ats is and can read his comments directly there if they so chose to.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Beautiful Quarters @BillJones
boston
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb, Ricko
Bad transactions with : nobody to date