5 December 2022
A Gorgeous Circulated Barber Half Dollar of an Issue that has Always Vexed Me
I’ve been collecting Barber coinage (circulated, mint state and proof) for over a quarter-century and have been heavily involved with Barber half dollars for over two decades. In the mid-1990s I picked up copies of the David (Feigenbaum) Lawrence (DLRC now) books on the quarter and half dollar series and I’ve never lost my love of these coins. Those DLRC books were an unparalleled resource in the days before the internet and they are still relevant and full of valuable information today.
The DLRC quarter book mentioned the mid-grade 1897-S as being David’s favorite issue and that they were never found, and when they were, they disappeared immediately. His experience mirrored mine with respect to that coin and I always look for nice examples of it while never truly expecting to find coins that make the cut for quality. The DLRC half dollar book mentioned how scarce the 1907-S is in anything above strict F12 and that there was always heavy collector demand for such coins. He also wrote that this was the most difficult mint state coin in the latter part of the series, which I assume means from 1905 onward. I have also found the 1907-S to be a true bear of a coin to find nice, original and with meat left on it, but I do not venture into the MS grades for this coin.
Starting in the late 1990s, and lasting for around a dozen years, I built a complete raw set of original skinned, VF30-ish Barber half dollars housed within a pair of vintage Library of Coins folders. Those folders were heavy when the complete 73-coin set was inside! The weakest coins in the set were the 1893-S, 1904-S and 1907-S. Try as I might, and I tried a lot, I just couldn’t find the right coin for those three slots and so I ended up with F15-VF20 coins for those examples. Please note that in those years, just as today, I could find certified examples of these coins in the grades that I was looking, but I could not find certified examples that met my quality standards for surface preservation or eye appeal. That set was broken up and sold long ago, but I still look through Barber half dollars and when “the right” coins show up I have no hesitation to buy them. Currently, that means I have approximately three mint state pieces and a half-dozen circulated examples.
Recently, an example of the 1907-S issue popped up in an auction venue and I immediately knew that the coin belonged with me. The online images were not very good and the seller did not hype the coin up at all, but I felt that I knew how to interpret the images correctly and also knew that I really wanted to acquire that example. Just after the coin was listed, I contacted the seller, told them I intended to win the auction and requested that they package the coin carefully so that it would not be damaged during transit. The auction ended with only tepid bidding and I attribute this to the poor images that weren’t lit sufficiently and made interpretation of the surfaces far more difficult than one would expect.
The coin arrived recently and I took images of it. I’d grade it a strong VF, likely a VF30, but I could see someone else lobbying for a VF35 or critiquing it as a VF25. It makes no difference to me. The coin hasn’t been cleaned, it doesn’t have verdigris all over it and there are no unfortunate digs or scrapes on it. It’s simply an original, attractive example of an issue that has vexed me for more than two decades. I am very pleased.
The DLRC quarter book mentioned the mid-grade 1897-S as being David’s favorite issue and that they were never found, and when they were, they disappeared immediately. His experience mirrored mine with respect to that coin and I always look for nice examples of it while never truly expecting to find coins that make the cut for quality. The DLRC half dollar book mentioned how scarce the 1907-S is in anything above strict F12 and that there was always heavy collector demand for such coins. He also wrote that this was the most difficult mint state coin in the latter part of the series, which I assume means from 1905 onward. I have also found the 1907-S to be a true bear of a coin to find nice, original and with meat left on it, but I do not venture into the MS grades for this coin.
Starting in the late 1990s, and lasting for around a dozen years, I built a complete raw set of original skinned, VF30-ish Barber half dollars housed within a pair of vintage Library of Coins folders. Those folders were heavy when the complete 73-coin set was inside! The weakest coins in the set were the 1893-S, 1904-S and 1907-S. Try as I might, and I tried a lot, I just couldn’t find the right coin for those three slots and so I ended up with F15-VF20 coins for those examples. Please note that in those years, just as today, I could find certified examples of these coins in the grades that I was looking, but I could not find certified examples that met my quality standards for surface preservation or eye appeal. That set was broken up and sold long ago, but I still look through Barber half dollars and when “the right” coins show up I have no hesitation to buy them. Currently, that means I have approximately three mint state pieces and a half-dozen circulated examples.
Recently, an example of the 1907-S issue popped up in an auction venue and I immediately knew that the coin belonged with me. The online images were not very good and the seller did not hype the coin up at all, but I felt that I knew how to interpret the images correctly and also knew that I really wanted to acquire that example. Just after the coin was listed, I contacted the seller, told them I intended to win the auction and requested that they package the coin carefully so that it would not be damaged during transit. The auction ended with only tepid bidding and I attribute this to the poor images that weren’t lit sufficiently and made interpretation of the surfaces far more difficult than one would expect.
The coin arrived recently and I took images of it. I’d grade it a strong VF, likely a VF30, but I could see someone else lobbying for a VF35 or critiquing it as a VF25. It makes no difference to me. The coin hasn’t been cleaned, it doesn’t have verdigris all over it and there are no unfortunate digs or scrapes on it. It’s simply an original, attractive example of an issue that has vexed me for more than two decades. I am very pleased.
Whoa! What is this? A 1907-S Barber half dollar with good meat, original surfaces and loads of eye appeal. This is practically a unicorn.
There are three points I would like to bring up with respect to this coin and/or its acquisition. Firstly, to find a coin with such splendidly preserved, circulated surfaces is unusual no matter what the date, but to find one for a coin that has proven so difficult to obtain over such a long period of time is just so rare that when one pops up it needs to be purchased. Essentially, many other folks will not realize how difficult the piece might be and they might not appreciate how unusual the coin is, which means that those who have chased after an example will have the advantage, but only if they are willing to act on it and potentially stretch for the coin in question. Additionally, the few blobs of gunk, dirt or debris adhered to this piece do not bother me one bit and I have no intention of ever having them removed while I own the coin. They are part of the history of the coin and I do not mean this in a romantic way, but rather they represent what the coin looks like without being intentionally altered. Lastly, I have never read this anywhere else, but I'd imagine that the 1907-S silver issues might be as difficult to obtain as they are could possibly be due to the April 18, 1906 earthquake that leveled much of San Francisco. The subsequent building boom likely took all available coinage and currency in the area and put it to use in the economy.
