Tips For Collecting Barber Half Dollars: Both Rare And Common
Thinking about some of the coins in my collection that are among my favorites, my mind quickly brings up the image of a Barber half dollar.
Barber half dollars are big old coins that saw heavy use during their 1892-1915 production. By the way, Barber half dollars are also commonly called Liberty Head half dollars.
Of all the regularly circulating Barber coins, which includes the Barber dime, Barber quarter, and Liberty nickel (each also designed by Charles E. Barber), Barber halves are perhaps among the most difficult series to complete in decent grades.
Barber Halves Are Scarce
As mentioned earlier, Barber half dollars saw heavy circulation during their heyday.
Mainly for this reason (and collector demand), Barber half dollars of any date are becoming very difficult to locate in the higher circulated grades (Extremely Fine and above).
Barber half dollars in Fine and Very Fine are also relatively scarce in number when compared to the numbers of Barber half dollars that grade between Good and Very Good.
Amazingly, it can be a bit of a task to find certain dates of decent, uncleaned, undamaged Barber half dollars in even Good and Very Good grades.
Unfortunately, a large number of Barber half dollars show some evidence of cleaning, polishing, or artificial toning. Many Barber half dollars that are not cleaned seem to display too many signs of minor to moderate damage, like rim dings, nicks, scratches, and marks.
Barber Half Dollar Prices
As a personal anecdote, I can tell you that when I began collecting coins in the early- to mid-1990s, I remember seeing problem-free Barber half dollars grading Good to Very Good selling for between $5 and $8.
It seems prices have taken a major leap over the past few years, and it has gotten to the point that prices for common-date Barber half dollars in those same grades have more than doubled... even tripled!
However, no one can ever guarantee or predict if such price increases will continue or, for that matter, even be erased by price decreases. Yet, problem-free Barber half dollars are always popular with coin collectors.
The bottom line here? Nice, problem-free Barber half dollars are in demand. If you are in the market for nice Barber half dollars, be patient and shop around.
Then when you find a suitable candidate, you may not want to wait too long to buy it. There will always be other buyers who can recognize a nice Barber half dollar when they see it.
Scarce Barber Half Dollar Values
There are several dates in the Barber half dollar series which are considered scarce.
The prices below refer to coins grading from a low range of Good-4 to a high range of Mint State-63 and coins that are problem-free.
- 1892-O; 390,000 minted: $350 to $1,800
- 1892-O Micro-O; mintage unknown: $5,800 to $52,500
- 1892-S; 1,029,028 minted: $265 to $2,000
- 1893-S; 740,000 minted: $165 to $4,000
- 1896-S; 1,140,948 minted: $110 to $3,500
- 1897-O; 632,000 minted: $170 to $3,800
- 1897-S; 933,900 minted: $160 to $3,500
- 1913; 188,627 minted: $70 to $2,200
- 1914; 124,610 minted: $160 to $2,500
- 1915; 138,450 minted: $115 to $2,750
Common Barber Half Dollar Values
Dates not listed above can generally be considered common. Common Barber half dollars are generally priced between $20 to $35 for those grading Good-4.
Prices increase from there, based on the grade and date. Barber half dollars grading Fine (which is a major grading benchmark for Barber half dollars) cost at least $35 and up for decent pieces.
Thankfully, for the collector trying to assemble a complete collection of the coin, the Barber half dollar series consists mainly of common-date pieces. Common-date Barber half dollars are more or less uniformly priced, especially for coins grading Good-4 to Very Good-8.
RELATED:
Steve,
I tried looking for information on any double-die errors for 1907-S Barber half dollars and could find none on conventional websites either.
The first place I can think of for you to look into any possible varieties would be "Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins." See if you can find it at your local library.
If this does not lend you any luck, it may be worth your effort to check online with any of the many error-coin-specific websites and dealers.
While there are potentially hundreds of recognized errors as well as major and minor varieties for each coin series, sometimes only a few ever really become popular enough for coverage in the conventional (or "general") coin web sites; most errors and varieties wind up as being relatively obscure.
I do hope this helps lead you in the right direction and gets you the answers you are looking for!
Good luck!
I have a 1907 S Barber Half that appears to have double lips I can't find any info could you tell me where to look
Thanks
Steve