Hermon Atkins MacNeil (February 27, 1866 – October 02, 1947) was an American sculptor born in Everett, Massachusetts. He is known for designing the Standing Liberty quarter, and for sculpting Justice, the Guardian of Liberty on the east pediment of the United States Supreme Court building.

Charles Barber's quarter dollar design was introduced only in 1892 but was nevertheless set aside in 1916. Mint Director Robert W. Woolley invited three renown sculptors from outside the Mint to produce designs for the dime, the quarter, and the half dollar. Artist Adolph A. Weinman captured two of the three denominations: the dime and the half dollar. Hermon A. MacNeil's design, however, was selected for the quarter.
The model for Liberty on the quarter was likely a composite of silent film actor Dora Doscher (also known as Doris Doree) and Broadway actor Irene MacDowell; the latter's husband apparently disapproving of the pose for perhaps an obvious reason: the partial nudity of Liberty, specifically the undraped right breast. Supposedly, this nudity led to some controversy, and the Mint decided to change the design of the quarter to ensure Liberty's modesty. This is not true. Instead, it was the United States' entry into World War I that precipitated the change, with MacNeil believing that Liberty should be wearing armor under such circumstances.
The new design was first struck in 1917 after some eight million quarters had already been produced using the original artwork, which is now referred to as "Type I" (1916-17).
The obverse of the Type I Standing Liberty quarter displays Liberty standing in the opening of a wall or parapet, right leg resting on the base but left foot raised as if she is walking forward. Her long flowing gown drapes loosely and is wrapped around her right arm, but falls off the shoulders exposing the right breast. It is partly open at the front (the hem held up by a clasp), displaying the right leg to above the knee. On many coins, Liberty's navel is clearly visible through the thin material. Her left arm holds a circular shield as if in a defensive posture; the shield displays the Union shield and several concentric rings, including a circle of raised dots or rivets near the edge. Liberty's right arm is extended outward, resting on a portion of the wall, and her hand holds an olive branch. Another loose drapery covers the bottom part of the shield, extends across the front of Liberty, and ends beneath the arm on the top of the wall.
The word LIBERTY arcs across the top of the coin, the L partially covered by the olive branch, and B and E separated by Liberty's head. Both wall sections display a rectangular panel of horizontal stripes, with IN GOD at the top of the left wall and WE TRUST (the U depicted as a V) similarly located on the right wall. Thirteen five-point stars form two columns along the wall edges next to the opening, seven to the left and six to the right (the top left star follows the D in GOD). The step upon which Liberty stands displays the date in raised numerals. The designer's initial M is to the right of the bottom star in the right column, and for quarters minted in Denver or San Francisco, the D or S mintmark is located to the right of the bottom star in the left column.
Inside the flat rim is a concentric ornamental ring consisting of two raised angular dots alternating with a short raised bar; the ring is broken by the step that displays the date.
The center of the reverse features an eagle in flight, headed to the right, wings outstretched and raised. Inside the flat rim is a concentric ring of UNITED STATES at the top and QUARTER DOLLAR at the bottom, with seven five-point stars separating UNITED and QUARTER on the left and six five-point stars separating STATES and DOLLAR on the right. Centered dots separate the two words of both the legend and the denomination. OF AMERICA, in two lines and of smaller letters, lies below UNITED STATES; below that text is E PLURIBUS UNUM on two lines; E and PLURIBUS are also separated by a center dot.

Reverse: "UNITED·STATES·OF·AMERICA" written at the top. "E PLURIBUS UNUM" written at the top right side in three lines. American Bison (commonly called Buffalo) standing facing left. " FIVE CENTS" written at the bottom. Mintage: 23,411,000. Mintage Years: [see under 1917]. Engraver: James Earle Fraser (both sides).

Note: This coin is commonly known by coin collectors as "Buffalo Nickel with flat ground". The mint mark "D" or "S" is seen below the word "FIVE CENTS" at the bottom. In 1913 the reverse design was modified so the ground under the buffalo was represented as a line rather than a mound. The mound types of 1913 are referred as KM#133. On the 1937D 3-legged variety, the buffalo's right front leg is missing, the result of a damaged die.