1903-O Barber Quarter
Circulation strike struck at the New Orleans Mint · 3,500,000 made
- Mintage
- 3,500,000
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 6.25 g
- Diameter
- 24.3 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1903-O Barber Quarter worth?
In worn condition it trades for about its silver content, 0.1808 troy ounces. Uncirculated coins with full luster or attractive toning sell for more.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1903-O Barber Quarter rare?
- Not by date: 3.5 million were struck. A sharp uncirculated coin or a known variety is what makes one special.
- Is the 1903-O Barber Quarter silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.1808 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1903 Barber Quarter?
- On the reverse, below the eagle's tail. Philadelphia quarters have no mint mark. On this coin the mark is O, for New Orleans.
- Which New Orleans dates near 1903 are scarcer?
- The 1905-O at 1,230,000, the 1901-O at 1,612,000, the 1898-O at 1,868,000, plus 4 more. So the 1903-O is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1903-O Barber Quarter coins were made?
- 3,500,000.
What to check on your 1903-O
- Make sure the mint mark really is a O. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 1903-S (1 million made).
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Proof or circulation strike? A proof has mirror-like fields and frosted design details and was sold to collectors, not released in change. The 1903 Barber Quarter Proof (755 made) is the one to compare with.
- Judge the grade under good light. LIBERTY on the headband is the benchmark: a full, sharp LIBERTY is required for Very Fine and above.
Circulated examples are usually traded for their silver content. Pick out the best ones: original luster and attractive toning lift a coin above melt, while cleaned coins lose most of their collector value.
The story of the 1903-O
Output at New Orleans slipped to 3,500,000 in 1903, from 4.7 million the year before. In 1904 the figure was 2.5 million.
1903-S came to 1 million and 1903 came to 9.7 million, so neither mint's 1903 coin is much scarcer than the other.
Across New Orleans's 18 Barber Quarter issues, the hardest to find is the 1909-O with 712,000 made. The 1903-O is one of the easier ones. Within the 1900s it's 17th smallest of 32, between the 1900-O (3.4 million) and the 1906 (3.7 million).
Denver joins in 1906 (1902 to 1908)
Steady demand kept Philadelphia mintages between about 9.6 and 12.2 million from 1902 to 1904, while New Orleans and San Francisco struck from about 1 to 4.7 million each. San Francisco made no quarters in 1904 or 1906. The 1905-O (1,230,000) and the 1908-S (784,000) are the scarcer coins of the period.
The new Denver Mint struck its first quarters in 1906, a total of 3,280,000 with a D below the eagle. In 1907 and 1908 all four mints struck quarters at once, a first for the denomination. Coins of these years are among the most available Barber quarters in circulated grades. Uncirculated pieces from New Orleans often show soft strikes at the eagle's claws and the top of the shield, so sharpness varies more than the mintages suggest.
How to recognize it
Charles Barber's Liberty faces right wearing a cap, a laurel wreath and a headband inscribed LIBERTY, with IN GOD WE TRUST above and 13 stars around. The reverse shows a heraldic eagle holding arrows and an olive branch with a ribbon reading E PLURIBUS UNUM. The mint mark sits below the eagle's tail. On worn coins, the letters of LIBERTY are the first thing to fade.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Barber Quarter (1892–1916) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1903 |
| Mint | New Orleans Mint |
| Mint mark | "O" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 3,500,000 |
| Face value | 25¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 6.25 grams |
| Diameter | 24.3 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.1808 troy oz (5.625 g) |
| Designer | Charles E. Barber |
Other 1903 Barber Quarter issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1903 Barber Quarter | 9,669,309 | Circulation strike | 0.1808 oz |
| 1903 Barber Quarter Proof | 755 | Proof | 0.1808 oz |
| 1903-S Barber Quarter | 1,036,000 | Circulation strike | 0.1808 oz |
| 1903-O Barber Quarter | 3,500,000 | Circulation strike | 0.1808 oz |
Mintage: United States quarter mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.