From today's featured article
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 The Barber coinage consisted of a dime, quarter, and half dollar designed by United States Bureau of the Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber. They were minted between 1892 and 1916, though no half dollars were struck in the final year of the series. By the late 1880s, there were increasing calls for the replacement of the Seated Liberty design, used since the 1830s on most denominations of silver coins. In 1891, Mint Director Edward O. Leech instructed Barber to prepare new designs for the dime, quarter, and half dollar, after a public competition failed to produce suitable entries. Barber's designs were approved by President Benjamin Harrison that November. Striking of the new coins began the following January. Public and artistic opinion of the new pieces was, and remains, mixed. In 1915, Mint officials began plans to replace them when the design's minimum term expired the following year. Before the end of 1916, the Mercury dime, Standing Liberty quarter, and Walking Liberty half dollar had begun production. 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. (Full article...)
Recently featured: Harold Davidson – War of the Bavarian Succession – Adenanthos cuneatus
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Did you know...
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From Wikipedia's newest content:
... that the Travolta dress (pictured), one of Diana, Princess of Wales's most famous dresses, named after actor John Travolta, was auctioned for £240,000 in 2013?
... that Charles Wennergren of Sweden was a six-time national tennis champion and two-time Olympian?
... that the opera Die Hamletmaschine by Wolfgang Rihm has been described as "a total theatre of sound and nonnarrative, ritualistic drama"?
... that Geoffrey Binnie was the third generation of his family to enter civil engineering?
... that mole crickets of the genus Scapteriscus not only attack crops such as rice, but are also major pests that damage turf on golf courses?
... that Danish basketball player Anne Thorius holds the Michigan Wolverines career record with 537 assists?
... that The Avengers: Age of Ultron, the upcoming sequel to the 2012 film The Avengers, is not based on the comic book series, Age of Ultron?
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In the news
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Egyptian security forces fire upon pro-Mohamed Morsi demonstrators in Cairo, leaving dozens of people dead.
Tunisian opposition leader Mohamed Brahmi (pictured) is assassinated in Tunis.
A train crash in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, kills 79 people.
Thor's hero shrew, the first known sister species to the armored shrew, is discovered.
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, gives birth to a son, Prince George of Cambridge, third in line to succeed Queen Elizabeth II.
A series of earthquakes in Dingxi, Gansu, China, kills at least 95 people and injures more than 1,000 others.
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