Part 2. Observation of a Neophyte Collector of Circulated Barber Half Dollars

OnlyBuffalos

Earlier I posted what I perceived to be the scarcest Barber Half Dollars in XF and AU condition based on a one year observation of the auction market and internet dealers. Thank you to all who contributed your opinions and to those who commented on the state of the Barber half market in other grades.

For what it's worth, in XF and AU condition, these dates seem to priced higher than availability would seem to warrant. In date order they are: 1892, 1899, 1913, 1914, and 1915.

What's your opinion? Any others that should be included? What about other circulated grades?

ARCO

1892-P and O are a bit pricey for availability, but have higher demand as the first year of issue, and are probably bought to fill Type sets. The 1894-P is very difficult in VG10-VF30, but is available much more in XF and AU.

The 1899 is a common date in all grades, and should be priced as a type coin.
The 1913, 1914 and 1915 are all quite scarce XF and above with the 1914 being the most available in my opinion. If you find them original, I would buy every one I found. I have never seen an original XF in 1913 or 1915 and have seen one killer, perfect XF40 1914 on Ebay that sold for $550.00. In Fine and VF they are much more available original than the early dates up to 1898.

I guess it boils down to original surfaces. Most barbers can be found in any grade, but are usually cleaned. If originality is a criteria, then most of the dates become very scarce above VF.

Most Barbers are undervalued, as opposed to being overvalued in my opinion. Type AU coins can be had for $170-$250 on Ebay and one should rarely pay the listed retail values on those coins.

My favorite date is the 1896-O followed by the 1899-O and the 1904-O.

Tyler

OnlyBuffalos

"Most Barbers are undervalued, as opposed to being overvalued in my opinion. Type AU coins can be had for $170-$250 on Ebay and one should rarely pay the listed retail values on those coins."


But I think most of the raw AU coins on Ebay are overgraded in addition to being cleaned or dipped to the point of having all the luster removed. In AU, ANACS Barbers are sometimes listed, PCGS rarely, and NGC almost never on Ebay. Many of the ANACS coins have clearly been cleaned.

IMO, not too many original AU Barbers appear on Ebay and when they do, there is usually stiff competition. I agree with you that these are undervalued and I believe they will likely get more expensive as there is currently alot of competition for these uncleaned specimens especially if they are problem free.