1893 Isabella Quarter - 1893 Isabella 25c NGC MS67. In its population report, NGC shows only 9 Isabella Quarters certified higher than the present piece in Superb Gem MS67 condition.

Tied for second finest at both NGC and PCGS, this eye-appealing, Superb Gem1893 Isabella commemorative quarter shows rich polychromatic toning, especially electric blue and gold, and original cartwheel mint luster. The colors and luster confirm the coins originality. The surfaces are virtually mark-free with no visible abrasion marks or other distractions. The coin is well struck. Isabellas cheek, the lower part of her crown, and the curved strand of fiber crossing the womans thigh on the reverse are all sharp and clear.

Designed by Charles Barber and suggested by drawings of Kenyon Cox, a well-known illustrator of the time, the Isabella Quarter shows a left-facing profile of Isabella Queen of Spain, the patroness of Columbus. The inscription UNITED STATES is to the left of the crown and OF AMERICA with the date below it is to the right. The reverse shows a profile of a woman kneeling, facing left holding a distaff and spindle. These symbolize the industry of American women.

Queen Isabella was the first woman and certainly the first foreign monarch to be identified on a United States coin. The Spanish colonies in America began during her lifetime and ended during the lifetime of Queen Isabella II, over 500 years later. Spains last possession in America was lost during the Spanish-American War of 1898.

The Columbian Exposition was under the control of the Board of Gentlemen Managers. Yet the reverse of this coin celebrates the Board of Lady Managers. Head of this board was Mrs. Bertha Palmer, a wealthy Chicago socialite. Influenced by Susan B. Anthony, Congress passed a Worlds Fair Bill that included a Board of Lady Managers. The fair had places for womens exhibits, including a special Womens Building designed by a woman. Mrs. Palmer suggested that Congress provide that $10,000 be provided for the Board and that it be in the form of commemorative quarter dollars.

Cornelius Vermeule, in his Numismatic Art in America, said of coin, the government succumbed to a petition of the Board of Lady Managersand authorized a quarter dollar, for the year 1893.The crowned head and richly clothed bust of Queen Isabella on the obverse follow Gilbert Scotts Victorian Gothic tradition of photographic classicism.The kneeling woman with distaff and spindle on the reverse, [recalls] a figure of a servant girl from the east pediment of the temple of Zeus at Olympia Nowadays the coin seems charming for its quaintness and its Victorian flavor, a mixture of cold Hellenism and Renaissance romance. Perhaps one of its greatest joys is that none of the customary inscriptions, mottoes and such, appear on it.

Charles E. Barber was the sixth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint. He became Chief Engraver after the death of his father, William. He served from 1879 to 1917. He is best known for his designs of the Barber dime, quarter, and half dollar. In addition he designed the Liberty Head nickel, several commemoratives, and the Flowing Hair Stella pattern. Barber was born in London in 1840. He came to the United States in 1852 with his family. His father became an engraver at the Mint in Philadelphia. Following Longacres death, William Barber became the Chief Engraver and made his son, Charles, his assistant.

In 1879, Charles Barber became the Chief Engraver despite the fact the George T. Morgan may have been more qualified or at least more talented. William Barber, Charles father, had been an engraver in England. He worked for the Mint in Philadelphia and became Chief Engraver in 1869 after James Longacre died on New Years Day. In 1875 Charles married Martha Jones. They had a daughter, Edith. Martha died in 1898, and Charles remarried in 1902 to Caroline Gaston.