The Standing Liberty Quarter, designed by Hermon A. MacNeil and introduced in 1916, has a rather nice story behind it.  The obverse features Liberty standing between two revetments holding a shield in one hand an an olive branch in the other, while the reverse depicts an eagle in flight.  The model for this design was 5'4" 22 year old Miss Dora Doscher. Through her own efforts, she developed from a half invalid child to a most perfect type of American woman.  Her days were spent in artistic and intellectual pursuits and she developed into a lecturer, writer, and a trained nurse.

 

For the first time in the history of the United States, there were separated designs for each of the silver denominations.  The obverse of the 1916 quarter featured the undraped bosom of Miss Doscher, which aroused some unfavorable comment and resulted in 1917 with a modification of the design to "dress up Miss Liberty".  This was accomplished by encasing her in a protective suit of armor.

 

The new design presented difficulties in striking, so with the exception of certain early issues, most quarters produced, display some weakness in certain areas, particularly on the high parts of Miss Liberty's head.  Because of this there are two ways to purchase Standing Liberty Quarters; with Full Head and non-Full Head.

 

Production of the coins ceased in 1930 followed by the introduction of the Washington Quarter in 1932.