Barber Half Dollar Silver Coin Minted 1892 - 1915

Barber Half DollarsMinted from 1892-1915Please vote on the helpfulness ofthis guide at the bottom of the page
In 1892 the Barber design, also as some have stated and is known as the Liberty Head Half Dollar, was entered into circulation. A similar design was used for the new Half Dollar, Quarter and Dime, and all three coins had steady, yet unspectacular careers in the nations coinage history.
The Barber Half Dollars wereminted or struckfor a total of 24 years (until 1915) andshowing 73 different date-and-mint gebinations.
Coins of better quality have shown a dramatic increase in value over coins that are not the nicest to look at. The values of Barber Half Dollars are continually going up and are not the exception in the coin market today. The golden rule of coin collecting is to buy the coin that pleases you the most. A coin graded in Almost Good condition will look terrible next to a coin only two grades up in Very Good condition. Generally the price difference is minimal when going up just two grades. Like many coins, Barber Half Dollars were minted by several mint facilites in the U.S. (Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco and New Orleans). There are also a few proof coins known to exist at much higher prices than the business strike coins.
This Barber Half Dollar series is starting to garner the attention of many collectors. With no major rarities in the series, a geplete set is possible to assemble. The austere obverse design gives a beautiful look in high grades.
The Barber issue was the last U.S. coin series to have the same design on the dime, quarter and half dollar. It was designed by Charles E. Barber, a U.S. Mint engraver.
The year was 1892, and new beginnings seemed to be the order of the day. That was the case in United States coinage, as well. Three new silver coins entered circulation that year. Sometimes identified as the Liberty Head half dollar, quarter and dime, they're more often referred to by the name of their designer: U.S. Mint chief sculptor-engraver Charles E. Barber.
The fractional silver coins were long overdue for a facelift. All had carried the Seated Liberty portrait for more than half a century, and while it's true that life was more leisurely back then, the pace of change in this case was downright glacial. The Mint had had little incentive to change the designs of these coins. Only one of the three, the Seated Liberty dime, had been made in the previous decade in anything approaching normal numbers. New half dollars and quarters were barely struck at all during the 1880s, because the federal government had more than enough older coins (some dating back to the late 1840s) stashed away in its vaults to satisfy public demand.
Chief Engraver Barber proved to be the winner in the end. Frustrated by the poor public entries, the Mint turned to Barber in 1891 to design the coins, an assignment he had coveted all along. Barber came up with similar obverse artwork for all three coins. It features a right-facing head of Liberty with her hair bound up in a cap, a laurel wreath resting along her hairline and a diadem bearing the incused inscription LIBERTY over her brow. The designer's initial (B) is at the base of the neck. On the half dollar and quarter, the motto IN GOD WE TRUST appears above this portrait, the date below and thirteen stars alongside.
The two larger coins also share a gemon reverse design. It depicts a heraldic eagle with a shield on its breast, an olive branch clutched in its right talons and a bundle of arrows in its left talons. Inscriptions on this side include UNITED STATES OF AMERICA along the top border, the statement of value along the bottom and E PLURIBUS UNUM on a ribbon held tightly in the eagle's beak. Thirteen stars are arrayed in the field above the eagle.
All three Barber silver coins debuted in 1892, and all three had steady, unspectacular careers in the nation's coinage lineup. In the case of the Barber half dollar, annual production never exceeded six million pieces at any given mint; the highpoint came in 1899, when the main mint in Philadelphia made just a shade over 5.5 million. On the other hand, yearly output never dropped below 100,000 coins at any one mint. The low point occurred in 1914, when just 124,610 half dollars were struck at Philadelphia. Besides the main mint, Barber halves also were produced at the branch mints in New Orleans (O mintmark), San Francisco (S) and Denver (D), with the mintmark placed below the eagle's tail. Scarce issues include 1892-O, 1892-S, 1893-S, 1896-S, 1901-S, 1904-S and the last three pieces from Philadelphia-1913, 1914 and 1915. However, there are no extreme rarities.
Proofs were produced every year, with mintages ranging from a high of 1,245 in the first year of issue to a low of 380 in 1914, the second-to-last year of the series. In 1916, the Barber coin was replaced by a new half dollar, the Walking Liberty type, and no proof halves were issued.
Barber half dollars were struck for a total of 24 years and in 73 different date-and-mint gebinations. Collectors do assemble date-and-mint sets, especially in circulated grades, but in mint condition this coin is far more often collected by type. Meaningful numbers exist in mint state levels up to MS-65, but above that the population is thin. When grading this design, the points on the obverse that will first show wear are the cheek and the hair below LIBERTY; on the reverse, check the eagle's head and the tips of the tail and wings.
The total output of Barber half dollars for all 24 years was only about 136 million coins. That's less than half the number of Kennedy halves struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 1964 alone, but then Barber halves were bigger money. Back in 1900, a half dollar would have bought a man's shirt or two pairs of suspenders. Money certainly went further in the "good old days!"
With coin collecting, acquiring quality Barber Half Dollars takes time and patience. There are very few key dates available nationwide as the hobby of collecting coins has grown tremendously, as well as the number of people collecting Half Dollars.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Diameter: 30.6 millimeters
Weight: 12.50 grams
geposition: .900 silver, .100 copper
Edge: Reeded
Net Weight: .36169 ounce pure silver