1909-O Barber Quarter. MS-66+ (PCGS). CAC. This beautifully toned quarter exhibits pearl gray, olive-blue, reddish-orange and antique gold toning. The strike is universally sharp -- rare in a New Orleans Mint Barber quarter -- and the nearly pristine surfaces display frosty luster. Gorgeous!The 1909-O is quite scarce in all grades with a mintage of 712,000 coins. Even Extremely Fine and About Uncirculated examples are elusive, and in the latter grade this is one of the most challenging Barber quarters to locate. According to David Lawrence, in a letter to our own Q. David Bowers in 1997:<em>"The 1909-O is the scarcest of all the New Orleans Mint Barber quarters in most grades, especially if with a decent strike. It is on the want list of just about everyone who wants to build a Mint State set."</em>This issue is significant as the last year of New Orleans Mint coinage. The presses in that city were stopped in this year, never to resume production. Many coins, primarily of the silver dollar denomination, continued to be stored at the New Orleans Mint until 1929, when they were moved to a vault in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, quarter dollars were not accumulated and most were paid out into the channels of commerce. In addition, they were not often saved by contemporary numismatists. Survival of Mint State 1909-O quarter is more a matter of chance than intent. Bowers was unable to locate records of any quantities of New Orleans Mint Barber quarters existing while doing research for his book <em>American Coin Treasures and Hoards </em>(published 1997). The present example not only escaped circulation, but it was handled with the utmost care by earlier generations of collectors. It now ranks as one of the finest certified survivors of this historic and challenging issue. From our (Bowers and Merenas) sale of the Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, April 1997, lot 1600; Heritages FUN Signature Sale of January 2005, lot 4154.
