DGS Slabs Barbieri Cache of "Smoking Liberty" Seated Quarters

Virginia Beach, VA. ‐ In July of 2008 Ken Potter wrote an extensive and lavishly illustrated article reporting on the discovery of a most interesting and eye catching die variety found on an 1857 Liberty Seated Quarter dollar. It has since been embraced by the numismatic community and dubbed the"Smoking Liberty" variety.

Potter reported the variety was first spotted by collector John O’Hare who showed it to friend and fellow collector, Saverio Barbieri, in the early part of 2000.

So smitten by the variety was Barbieri he began an eight‐year search for more specimens. After searching an estimated 30,000+ Liberty Seated quarters of that date on eBay and shows across the country Barbieri found a total of 28 specimens bringing the known population to 29 pieces. O’Hare still has his "discovery piece" he first shared with Barbieri.

Since publication of the seemingly rare die variety Mike Ellis, senior grader and variety specialist at Dominion Grading Service (DGS) in Virginia Beach, Virginia, found one in a client’s submission which was encapsulated by DGS as a lightly cleaned AU55 making it the first "Smoking Liberty" encapsulated as such. Read the rest of this entry »