Five years ago I published in the BCCS journal about a third Barber quarter obverse hub type, only used for a few months during 1900 (but it still produced probably ~5 million coins). With now three obverse types and two reverse types used in 1900, that means six possible combinations for each mint. Only five combinations are known to exist for Philadelphia (the Obv3/Rev2 combo is unknown). Today my Obv2/Rev2 arrived, completing my Philly set of 5. Obv1/Rev2, Common, ANACS AU58 Obv1/Rev3, Scarce/Rare, NGC AU58 Obv2/Rev2, new purchase, Uncommon/Scarce, PCGS AU55 Also L-101 "Broken O in GOD" which is quite scarce, and a die clash at jawline Obv2/Rev3, Common, NGC AU58 Obv3/Rev2, unknown, unlikely to exist Obv3/Rev3, Uncommon, Ebay raw, die clash below jawline I am quite pleased with the new purchase. Booming luster and the reverse is darn close to UNC. The GC image (below) does a good job with the details of the broken O and die clash, but I was not expecting it to be so lustrous in hand for an AU55 grade. I can do a whole thread or article on it, because I think the Broken O might have been the reason Obverse 3 was created, which was used throughout the rest of the series. It might also be the reason bidding was rather stiff, although to my knowledge the L-101 Broken O isn't listed anywhere but the 1994 Lawrence guidebook. The Ebay purchase is one I might replace in the future. It's more in the EF range, but it does have a similar die clash below the jawline, which always adds interest for me. Ultimately I would like to get the combo that doesn't exist for P - the Obv3/Rev2. It is only found on 1900-O quarters. Beyond that, I know at least one collector who has all 14 combinations that are known to exist, covering S and O as well. That is a lofty and expensive goal.
Congrats. Finishing any set is great but I prefer to set custom goals; the sets are more unique and I find the end results more interesting. I am 2 coins away from a 12 coin set of different Seated Dimes by variety. I mean double date, miss placed digits, terminal die states etc. James PS Is this something you will be putting in the Barber Journal perhaps?
Ha, there was already an article a couple years ago with the set of all 14 hub combinations for 1900, 1900-O and 1900-S! My five would seem lame. I’m considering something on the broken O and will post a rough sketch of it here.
OK, so I bought the 1900 Obv2/Rev2 quarter to complete my P set, but I also noticed that it had a broken O. I recalled looking into a broken letter in the past, and found notes stashed away from October 2020 where I'd looked at a ton of 1900 images, checking for a broken O. I didn't record why. I asked the BCCS people if there had ever been an article about it - no. It was before I discovered there was a third obverse hub type used in 1900, inspired by an article by @justafarmer. So it wasn't related to that. It could be that I'd run into it in the Lawrence guidebook as L-101, described briefly as "Broken O in GOD." A deep rabbit hole ensued. I've looked through Heritage again, plus GC and Stack's archives. I've found 8 examples of the Broken O. They are all Obverse 2 and all from Philly. Based on date position and the orientation of the right edge of 1 with designer initial B, there are three distinct obverse dies with the broken O. Die #1 aligns with the right edge of B (and denticle), #2 center of B, #3 left edge of B. Two of each below. My coin is #1, upper right. The corresponding Broken O for each of these obverse dies. Because the characteristics of the broken O are identical across multiple dies, it must be the hub that created them that is damaged. Obverse 2 was only used for a few months in 1900, then Obverse 3 was implemented, I believe in October, and used for the remainder of the series through 1916. I'd been pondering why Barber created a new master and then another one in the same year. This could be the reason.
