← Back to articles · Hobby & visiting shops ·
Standing Liberty quarters: Type 1, Type 2, and the 1916
Standing Liberty quarters (1916–1930) are 90% silver. Type 1 (1916–early 1917) has an exposed breast; Type 2 adds chainmail. 1916 is the key. Full Head is a grade talk. They did not make a 1922 quarter.
A Standing Liberty quarter is the 25-cent piece with Liberty standing in a doorway, struck 1916 through 1930. Hermon A. MacNeil designed it. 90% silver, same weight as a later Washington through 1964. 90% silver.
Type 1 (1916 and early 1917) has Liberty’s breast exposed. Type 2 (mid-1917 through 1930) adds a chainmail shirt. Same series, two looks. The reverse eagle also changes slightly.
Mint mark and Full Head
The mint mark is on the obverse, left of the date, above and left of Liberty’s foot. No letter is Philadelphia. Where is the mint mark?
Full Head (FH) means Liberty’s hair and leaves are fully struck. That is a high-grade conversation. A worn 1927 is still a 1927.
Common vs the ones we pull
Common late-1920s dates: junk-plus. We stop for 1916 (about 52,000 — the key), the 1918/7-S overdate, 1921, and 1923-S. 1917 Type 1 and Type 2 both exist; look at the chest, not just the date.
There is no 1922 Standing Liberty quarter. A “1922 quarter” is a misread date or a different coin.
Extra history
The 1916 redesign replaced Barber quarters the same year Weinman did the Mercury dime and Walker. Public complaint about Type 1 is the usual story for the chainmail. Dates sit high and wear off — dateless Standing Liberties are a pile, like dateless Buffalos.
What a shop pays
Common worn: silver bid. 1916 and the overdate: a collector number if the date is real. Don’t clean. Details grades.
People also ask
Is a Standing Liberty the same as a Walking Liberty? No. One is a quarter. One is a half.
Are they silver? Yes. 90%.
Is every 1917 a Type 1? No. Both types exist in 1917.
Continue in the coin and money library. Related visitor guides: for shop visitors.
A dateless Standing Liberty is still 90% silver. We weigh those with the rest of the junk and do not pretend the date will come back with a pencil. Don’t clean.
If the same envelope has Barber quarters and Washington 1964s, make three stacks: Barber portrait, standing Liberty, Washington bust. Same metal, three series.
More shop talk
1916 is the date people add a 6 to. We look at the 6 style and the rest of the coin, not a phone photo. Type 1 1917s are common enough that “exposed breast” is not a rarity claim by itself.
The first-year key as its own page: 1916 Standing Liberty quarter.