Barber half: well-worn, dinged and dirty. Cleaned?
moursund
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For you souls with experienced eyes, what road of life has this half seen?
I rather like the look, for a very circulated coin.
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Comments
In my experienced opinion, this coin has not been cleaned. It has myriad surface abrasions (hairlines) that are all over the coin and glint in the light quite well. This is common for coins that are worn so much that their raised devices are nearly flat. It is very well circulated and has circulation hairlines on it.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Looks like a typical album coin. If you like it and the price is right, buy it.
Can I see both sides please? Thanks buddy 👍🏼
🎶 shout shout, let it all out 🎶
I'd rather do without the harsh cleaning!
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
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Doesn'tquite make G04, or does it...Slider?
But I really like it for my album. Just got a decent price on eBay auction.
Well does make a good album coin till an upgrade - EH?
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
That is a nice old coin.... Lots of circulation wear... but great for an album. A good price makes it even better. Cheers, RickO
Yes, hard to find them with a halfway decent rim on the reverse, without spending three figures. 😉
How much you have to pay for it? I like it as an AG-03.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.-Albert Einstein
Got it for $61.50, including shipping. Booya!
I'd wager that it has seen a mardi gras or 3
Steve
As others have said, after years and years of circulation, lower grade Barber halves often have fine scratches that make them look like they were lightly brushed. These marks can be accentuated in a photo.
Grading can be a bit tricky because the reverse rims seem to wear into the devices when the obverse is still strong. I’ve seen quite a few where the obverse looks VG08 but the reverse looks AG03.
The raw coin posted is almost unusual in having a consistent obverse and reverse. I would call it a solid AG03, almost making it to G04. The ANACS coin is a nice example.
Possible album "slide lines" from the clear slides that hold the coins in?
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Now listen boy, I'm tryin' to teach you sumthin' . . . . that ain't no optical illusion, it only looks like an optical illusion.
My mind reader refuses to charge me....
Wonder what you could buy during Mardi gras in 1897 for 2 bits... Plenty, I'll bet!
Now I'm looking for a similar 1897 S, hopefully in similar price range 🙂
4 bits and probably a really good time
Steve
Well, you didn't pay too much for it. That's always a good thing.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.-Albert Einstein
Edited to say:. Don't know why all of a sudden I started thinking the barber half was a quarter... At least I didn't bid on the wrong one!
The coin doesn't make G4 in my opinion. I would suggest you attempt to go with G4 or G6 coins since they are quite a bit tougher to find than an AG3, yet they don't cost all that much more. However, it is all up to you. One of the wonderful things about the Barber half dollar series is that there are no stoppers or super expensive coins, as long as you aren't collecting gems.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
I love coins like that with good honest wear!
Sometimes I will find common date Barber coinage that looks like that in my "junk" silver searches at my LCS. I snag em, and put em in the perma stack!
@TomB said: One of the wonderful things about the Barber half dollar series is that there are no stoppers or super expensive coins, as long as you aren't collecting gems.
Yes! One of my COVID era projects has been a Barber half set, with a focus on VG-F coins. I’m looking for coins that have an even gunmetal gray look, with charcoal highlights around the devices—to me, this is the classic well circulated Barber look. It’s a bit harder to assemble than I expected; to make a sweeping generalization, the 19th century coins are harder than the 20th century one. In fact, the lower mintage 20th century coins are fairly easy, perhaps because collectors paid attention to them?
** It’s a bit harder to assemble than I expected; to make a sweeping generalization, the 19th century coins are harder than the 20th century one. In fact, the lower mintage 20th century coins are fairly easy, perhaps because collectors paid attention to them?**
I think the earlier dates had longer to circulate, prior to being “set aside”.
That said, my experience with VF-AU halves years back was many of the mint marked coins prior to 1906 were also difficult. The 01s and 05o immediately come to mind.
Low grade pieces of all dates and mm’s are readily available, in proportion to their mintages.
One of my dealer friends from many years ago had a brother who assembled three complete roll sets of B halves from bank roll searches and junk silver piles back in the 1960’s.
One of the sets that I put together that was very fun. I tried for full rims as a minimum but on some of the tougher ones I settled on some weaker examples. As @TomB said the absence of stoppers or super expensive rarities like in the quarter series made it an enjoyable quest. Have fun!