How is the Barber dime market these days?

Longacre

I was flipping through the recent Goldberg catalog last evening, while watching the games and sipping an expensive brandy. Although I typically skip over the dimes, for some reason I was intrigued by the Barber dime offerings. Not so much from the standpoint of quality (although I am sure there are some fine coins in there), but from the point of view that I never really noticed these coins before and for some reason, I find the design on the dimes attractive. In general, the Barbers don't excite me, but it was something about the dimes that caught my eye.

How is the market for these coins? Are they double nuclear white hot, or are they a series that goes under the radar? Have they ever been extremely popular? Are they easily subject to a Well Managed Promotion, or are these a true collector's series? Any other comments?

jcping

If you are interesting in top end of Barber dimes, go and check Legend auction X that was held last December. I don't think price meet their expectation (I compared the hammer prices and auction catalog estimations).

Sonorandesertrat

I don't think that they have ever been as popular as the Barber halves (or quarters). There is a show-stopper, the 1894-S coin, for collectors who are chasing MS coins. A set of proof dimes (64 and up) offers a moderate challenge, and many are available with very nice toning.

As a whole, the market for Barber coins has softened and there are some good deals to be had.

TomB

In the last two years it has become increasingly harder to sell mint state Barber dimes, in my experience, unless they really have wonderful toning.

joebb21

As was mentioned above about the legend sale- most of the "best of the best" fell flat.

That said, almost all barber coinage is down 10-30% over the last year. With that in mind, perhaps now is a good time to buy

rhedden

I broke up my Registry set (mostly MS63-64) last fall and consigned it with Glenn Holsonbake. 80% of the coins were sold in a month, and only a few are left in his inventory. Very few of them had pretty toning, incidentally. So this market was nowhere near as soft as I thought it was. The main problem was that many of the coins decreased slowly in price since I bought them in 2007, with the exception of the 1895-O, which I did not sell. I don't believe the prices on these are going to increase much except in the XF-AU grades.

Jinx86

MS set can be had with pocket fulls of money while a nice XF-AU set is quite time consuming but quite easy on the wallet. Just started my Registry set and picked a few out of my book to send in.

MFH

I have been dabbling in Dimes for 20 years and recently
completed my third set of XF-AU-MS mix.

In 2011, i sold off my 1st set in its entirety to a collector
and followed shortly by a Heritage auction where my 2nd
set sold off. The prices realized were about where I expected.

My latest set has far more MS coins - and normal light coins
have sold at fair prices but heavily toned ones ( ie: Simpson )
have sold for multiples of sheet. It's been reported that the
prices at the Legend sale for the Simpson sale were disappointing,
But I fear they were only disappointing to the auction house. If
compared to PCGS guide prices, I think the net results were right
on target.

I was the agent for a good friend at that auction and I purchased
some great coins for some very serious money. If they overestimated
the value of these coins, it was a major diservice to the consignor.
My friend had researched every date he wanted and was determined
to be as competitive as possible; as a result, I won six of the ten coins
I bid on.

I steered Ron to Glenn, and he had mentioned that mid range MS Dimes
we're doing quite well. I have used Glenn numerous times and highly rec-
omend him. His inventory turns better than most, where he specializes in
Barbers.

I'm almost done upgrading my Dimes where I'd like them to be, and when
the time comes, I'll keep my favorites and sell off the balance.

Dentuck

A bit of “insider trading” information: Longacre will be pleased to note
that His Beloved QDB™ is currently putting the finishing touches on A Guide
Book of Barber Silver Coins, which will join its brethren in the tastefully
illustrated Bowers Series this summer. My main bullet point for this post
would be

Buy as many of those suckers as you can, before the market explodes
from this insanely huge popularity boost!

amwldcoin

<< <i>A bit of “insider trading” information: Longacre will be pleased to note
that His Beloved QDB™ is currently putting the finishing touches on A Guide
Book of Barber Silver Coins, which will join its brethren in the tastefully
illustrated Bowers Series this summer. My main bullet point for this post
would be

Buy as many of those suckers as you can, before the market explodes
from this insanely huge popularity boost! >>



Perhaps that is why some of the big players in the Barber Market seem to be trying to let the air out of the rising Barber Market!

rhedden

I actually kept my favorite Barber dimes from my Registry set, which mostly happen to be the ones that look undergraded or "+". I kept a 1892-O in PCGS 65 OGH, 1895-P in PCGS 63, 1895-O in PCGS 64, 1897-P in PCGS 64, 1898-S in PCGS 64, 1901-S in PCGS 64, 1903-S in PCGS 64, 1906-D in PCGS 64 (original toner), 1910-P in PCGS 64, 1912-D in PCGS 63, and 1912-S in PCGS 64.

I didn't sell the rest because I feared some kind of market dip. They're just about as low as they can get. These coins decreased in price while everything else increased from 2002-2007 (except the 1895-O). I sold the rest because the ones listed above were the only coins I really enjoyed looking at. Many of the others were untoned or nearly so, and were not of my own choosing. I absorbed them into my collection when I bought a complete set in 2006 or so. The coins I kept are the ones that show my personality as a collector, and most need to be resubmitted for a regrade.

Speaking of regrades, there was a 1914-S in the set, PCGS MS65 OGH, that I resubmitted in 2006 to satisfy the old owner. Coin had a couple of carbon spots, and I graded it 64, so I didn't want to send it in when it was already in a 1989 OGH as a 65. It came back 65 in a new blue holder, of course, and I was ticked that I wasted about $40 to satisfy the previous owner. Well, Glenn sold it to some unknown party, who promptly got it into a PCGS 66 holder- without spot removal- and then it got a green bean on top of that. Just saw it go by in the recent Heritage auction.

So should I submit the ones that I thought were undergraded?

roadrunner

<< <i>....Speaking of regrades, there was a 1914-S in the set, PCGS MS65 OGH, that I resubmitted in 2006 to satisfy the old owner. Coin had a couple of carbon spots, and I graded it 64, so I didn't want to send it in when it was already in a 1989 OGH as a 65. It came back 65 in a new blue holder, of course, and I was ticked that I wasted about $40 to satisfy the previous owner. Well, Glenn sold it to some unknown party, who promptly got it into a PCGS 66 holder- without spot removal- and then it got a green bean on top of that. Just saw it go by in the recent Heritage auction.

So should I submit the ones that I thought were undergraded? >>




I see many coins I used to own from the 2002-2011 period showing up again in higher holders....many are ones that I tried but wasn't able to "earn" the upgrade. This is what's called "progress" in the coin "hobby." The "who" and "when" of the submission is often more important than the "what."

rhedden

I did submit about 30-35 of the OGH Barber dimes to PCGS for regrade in 2006, and I believe 2/3 of them upgraded by a point. I just think it's a matter of submitting certain coins enough times to get a lucky grade. Can't expect graders to be perfectly consistent, especially when the people in the grading room change every so often. The 1914-S was a case where I just didn't see any reason to submit it again, but was wrong.

MFH

<< <i>A bit of “insider trading” information: Longacre will be pleased to note
that His Beloved QDB™ is currently putting the finishing touches on A Guide
Book of Barber Silver Coins, which will join its brethren in the tastefully
illustrated Bowers Series this summer. My main bullet point for this post
would be

Buy as many of those suckers as you can, before the market explodes
from this insanely huge popularity boost! >>



I spoke with Dave Bowers a couple of years ago at a Baltimore show where
he was signing copies of his newest book. We chatted a bit and I asked him
if he had any plans on a Barber book. He sort of chuckled and said he hadn't
been given any go ahead by Whitman Publishing [ as of yet ] but would like to
have a book on the series "one of these days". Well, it seemed that the gentleman
seated behind Dave was from Whitman - and I pressed my case for this book.

Looking forward to seeing it soon. Thanks for the heads up.

Guess I better upgrade the few Dimes I needed before the popularity boost !!

Longacre

<< <i>

<< <i>A bit of “insider trading” information: Longacre will be pleased to note
that His Beloved QDB™ is currently putting the finishing touches on A Guide
Book of Barber Silver Coins, which will join its brethren in the tastefully
illustrated Bowers Series this summer. My main bullet point for this post
would be

Buy as many of those suckers as you can, before the market explodes
from this insanely huge popularity boost! >>



I spoke with Dave Bowers a couple of years ago at a Baltimore show where
he was signing copies of his newest book. We chatted a bit and I asked him
if he had any plans on a Barber book. He sort of chuckled and said he hadn't
been given any go ahead by Whitman Publishing [ as of yet ] but would like to
have a book on the series "one of these days". Well, it seemed that the gentleman
seated behind Dave was from Whitman - and I pressed my case for this book.

Looking forward to seeing it soon. Thanks for the heads up.

Guess I better upgrade the few Dimes I needed before the popularity boost !! >>




Longacre is in a frothy frenzy anticipating yet another book by his beloved QDB.

Dentuck

<< <i>Longacre is in a frothy frenzy anticipating yet another book by his beloved QDB. >>




Shouldn't that be Frothy Frenzy™?

Rumor has it the new Bowers book will be distributed through a network of more than
100,000 barber shops throughout the United States, as a promotional gimmick.

TwoSides2aCoin

First coin ever stolen at the fist coin show I ever worked was an 1894 S. Pretty sure it was an old man or the younger guy with him. That was about 7 years ago. Bad luck.

I'd say, by this fact, the market is pretty hot.

mr1931S

I was intrigued by the Barber dime offerings...for some reason, I find the design on the dimes attractive.

Nice Barber Dimes are expensive just like your fine brandy,kind sir.The reason you find the design attractive is that you have seen the light.
Hallaleujah!