Q&A: Is it true that the Standing Liberty quarters struck from 1917 through 1930 were illegal, or were illegally struck?

The following is excerpted from Clifford Mishler’s Coins: Questions & Answers

Q: Is it true that the Standing Liberty quarters struck from 1917 through 1930 were illegal, or were illegally struck?

A: That could be said. The authorizing legislation for the Standing Liberty quarter specified: “No change shall be made in the emblems and devices used,” providing only that “the modifications shall consist of the changing of the position of the eagle, the rearrangement of the stars and lettering and a slight concavity given to the surface.” Nevertheless, when variety 1 was supplanted by variety 2 in 1917, it was immediately obvious that substantial unauthorized, therefore illegal, changes had been made to the “emblems and devices” on the obverse, including the “dressing” of Liberty’s breast with “chain-mail.”

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