When I started collecting in the 1950s, the occasional Barber silver coin could still be found in circulation. It tended to be well worn, of course, typically down to the AG-G grade range.
Although many critics would pronounce the design as bland, at best, Barber coins were the exotics in my collecting world, so I liked them immensely. My favorite Barber coins of all time were a couple of quarters I got from a friendly trolley driver who stopped every day for a break at my junior high school. The coins were the product of the New Orleans Mint, which is not too surprising given that I grew up in Louisiana. The
