1914-S Barber Quarter (1892-1916)

Intriguing History

In 1914, war consumed the world: the United States held to neutrality as World War I engulfed Europe from 1914, then entered the fight in 1917, mobilizing industry and manpower on a scale the country had never before attempted, just as a deadly influenza pandemic began sweeping the globe in 1918. This Barber quarter was doing steady, unglamorous work as pocket change through exactly this period. This one came from the San Francisco Mint, opened in 1854 to coin the flood of West Coast bullion.