Most dates in the Barber coin series are not difficult to obtain, but the 1894 dime struck at the San Francisco Mint (1894-S), with a mintage of 24, is a great rarity.

The Barber family initially lived in Boston upon their arrival to the United States, though they later moved to Providence to allow William to work for the Gorham Manufacturing Company.

Enterprising fraudsters soon realized that the nickel and half eagle (or five-dollar gold piece) were close in size, and plated the base metal coins to pass to the unwary.

Amid public ridicule of the Mint, production came to a halt until Barber hastily added the word "cents" to the reverse of his design.

This design had been created by Christian Gobrecht, an engraver at the United States Mint in Philadelphia, after a sketch by artist Thomas Sully, and introduced to U.S. coins in the late 1830s.

[11] Three days before the signing of the 1890 act, Barber wrote to the superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint, Oliver Bosbyshell, setting forth proposed terms of a competition to select new coin designs.

They proposed a competition with set fees for sketches and designs submitted by the invited artists, to be judged by a jury of their peers, and with the Mint committed to replace the Seated Liberty coins with the result.

To judge the submissions, he appointed a jury consisting of Saint-Gaudens, Barber, and Henry Mitchell, a Boston seal engraver and member of the 1890 Assay Commission.

[18] Barber wrote years later about the competition, "many [entries] were sent in, but Mr. St. Gaudens, [sic] who was appointed one of the committee to pass upon designs, objected to everything submitted".

[19] Frustrated at the competition's outcome, Leech instructed Barber on June 11, 1891, to prepare designs for the half dollar, quarter, and dime.

Leech had spoken with Saint-Gaudens on the same subject; the sculptor stated that only four men in the world were capable of executing high-quality coin designs; three lived in France and he was the fourth.

[20] Leech announced the decision to have Barber do the work in July, stating that he had instructed the engraver to prepare designs for presentation to Secretary of the Treasury Charles Foster.

The reverse utilized the heraldic eagle from the Great Seal of the United States, enclosed inside a thick oak wreath, with the required legends surrounding the rim.

Leech got feedback from friends and from Secretary Foster; on September 28, he wrote Barber that Liberty's lips were "rather voluptuous" and directed him to prepare a reverse without the wreath.

[26][27] The letter from Barber was a lengthy technical explanation for various design elements, and requested further advice from Leech if he had preferences; the overall tone was argumentative.

Leech chose not to write again; he addressed one concern, about whether the olive branches in the design were rendered accurately, by visiting the National Botanical Garden, obtaining one, and sending it to Barber.

On November 6, President Harrison and his Cabinet considered which of the designs to approve, and chose one without the clouds; the following day, Leech ordered working dies prepared.

[29] While the Cabinet approved the designs, members requested that the Mint embolden the words "Liberty" on the obverse and "E Pluribus Unum" on the reverse, believing that these legends would wear away in circulation; despite the resulting changes, this proved to be accurate.

His obv[erse] was a mirror image of the Morgan dollar head, with much of Miss Anna Willess Williams'[b] back hair cropped off, the rest concealed ... within a disproportionately large cap.

"[37] In his text introducing the Barber quarter, Breen states, "the whole composition is Germanically stolid, prosy, crowded (especially on rev[erse]), and without discernible merit aside from the technical one of low relief".

[19] Art historian Cornelius Vermeule, in his work on U.S. coins, took a more positive view of Barber's coinage: "the last word as to their aesthetic merits has yet to be written.

[29] Vermeule stated that "the initial comment on the new coinage concerned the novelty of a contest, its failure, and the inevitable result that the commission would go, as always, to the Chief Engraver [Barber] and his staff.

"[41] George Heath, editor of The Numismatist, discussed the new pieces: "the mechanical work is all that could be desired, and it is probable that owing to the conventional rut in which our mint authorities seem obliged to keep, this is the best that could be done".

"[29] Saint-Gaudens was also interviewed, and as author Moran put it, "injudiciously ranted": "This is inept; this looks like it had been designed by a young lady of sixteen, a miss who had taken only a few lessons in modeling.

[46] Breen, on the other hand, related that San Francisco Mint Superintendent John Daggett had the dimes struck for a group of banker friends, giving three to each.

The organization publishes a quarterly journal, and holds an annual meeting in conjunction with the American Numismatic Association World's Fair of Money.

"[55] In 1894, the American Numismatic and Antiquarian Society, in conjunction with various artistic and educational institutes, began to advocate for better designs for U.S. coins, but no change took place in the remainder of the 19th century.

Although Woolley had hoped that each artist would produce one design, different concepts by Weinman were accepted for the dime and half dollar, and one by MacNeil for the quarter.

There was heavy demand for small change,[61] and as delays in actual production stretched into the second half of the year, Woolley was forced to have Barber prepare dies for 1916-dated dimes and quarters bearing the chief engraver's 1892 design.

According to numismatist David Lange, "Barber must have secretly smiled to himself as his familiar Roman bust of Liberty once again dropped from the presses by the thousands, and then by the millions.