The Finest Known, Intact Set of Barber Half Dollars Will Be Auctioned at FUN
Analyst
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In October, I was fortunate to be able to examine Dr. Shireman's entire set of Barber half dollars. Although I had seen the Duckor coins before, it was great to see them again. There are also excellent coins in the Shireman Collection that were earlier in other epic collections. This is indisputably the "current" finest set and is #6 on my all-time list of the best sets of business strike Barber halves. It contains the second finest known 1904-S and an incredible PCGS graded MS-68 1906-S!
Shireman Finest Known Set of Gem Barber Half Dollars To Be Auctioned
"In order to understand the scarce coins that you own or see, you must learn about coins that you cannot afford." -Me
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Joseph J. Singleton - First Superintendent of the U.S. Branch Mint in Dahlonega Georgia
Findley Ridge Collection
About Findley Ridge
Eliasberg, Hugon, Price, Pryor, Duckor, and even a few from Friend.
Many may set new records, even in the light of fewer high end collectors putting together complete sets today, compared to 10 years ago.
We wish him and wife Janice the best.
Dale and Stacey friend
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...
The 06-S is a Dream Coin. It was once in an NGC 69 holder.
All of the Barber Community wish Peter and Janice all the best for a successful auction.
I'm looking forward to going to lot viewing. A good friend is joining me as he is very
interested in picking up a few for his collection. All I'm doing is viewing, these Halves
are beyond my pay grade. Although, I'd like to pick up one of his least expensive toners.
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Coin collecting is not a hobby, it's an obsession !
New Barber Purchases
oih82w8:
In comparison to prices for PCGS graded MS-66 to -68 Morgans, Mercs, Walkers, or Indian Head half eagles, Shireman's Barber halves are good values for collectors, not 'a lot of money' in the realm of classic U.S. coins.
Would someone prefer one "MS-68" 1889-CC Morgan to an entire set of MS-66 Barber halves? In August 2013, Stack's-Bowers auctioned the Eliasberg 1889-CC for $881,250!
MFH:
Information about the 1906-S is provided in the article. As it was never registered at PCGS, the Hugon Collection has been forgotten by some members of this forum. It was incredible.
RonHedden:
It was very enjoyable for me. I thank the staff at Heritage for allowing me to spend considerable time with them months before the auction.
Zoins:
Though not pictured, the Hugon-Shireman 1894-O and the Duckor-Price-Shireman 1895-S are explicitly discussed and are extremely important coins. Further, I take responsibility for the fact that the wrong 1907 is pictured. I am sorry. The dipped-white coin is not the Shireman piece. Hopefully, this error will be corrected. It has been a busy time at CoinWeek. I hope that interested collectors read my text about the Duckor-Shireman 1907. Really neat gem, P-Mint business strikes from 1901 to 1915 are not easy to find, as so many collectors in the past selected Gem Proofs and ignored such business strikes.
Shireman Finest Known Set of Gem Barber Half Dollars To Be Auctioned
insightful10@gmail.com
It is sort of amazing that some of the pedigrees to major collections are forgotten in this last 20 year wave of "finest slabbed" built collections. The monstrous gem 1904-0 Barber quarter in Hugon wasn't even pedigreed back to James A. Stack (1975) and Dave Akers. Sunnywood bought that out of Gardner 1...pedigree not noted.
Roadrunner:
I really believe that some notable followers of gem Barbers have forgotten about it. Other than in my articles, and somewhat occasionally in Heritage auction catalogues, the Hugon name is very rarely mentioned in publications, yet many of the gem Barbers, of all three denominations, that have been auctioned over the last five years were in the Hugon Collection. Also, some participants in this forum are focused on PCGS registry sets and many of Hugon's coins were certified ATS. Now that some of Hugon's halves are re-appearing in the Shireman Collection, collectors may learn by reflecting upon both the Shireman and Hugon sets.
The Emery-Nichols Collection is more of a legend than the Hugon Collection. It was intact for a very long period of time before being auctioned by B&M in 1984. QDB became very interested in the history of the collection. Moreover, collectors of numismatic literature and students of the history of coin collecting often think about the Emery-Nichols Collection. The Hugon Collection was assembled in a much shorter period of time and John Hugon was alive while his Barbers were auctioned. Also, the Hugon Collection was overshadowed by the "Gold Rush Gallery" type set that was auctioned the same night, Jan. 12, 2005. The GRG collection contained two Brasher Doubloons and some really incredible U.S. gold type coins, including the finest known Liberty Head Eagle of the 1838-39 type. Do any forum members know what happened to the 1795 Eagle that was in that collection?
Roadrunner:
Yes, I would the use the word 'unfortunate' rather than the word 'amazing' in this context. The often detailed pedigrees of Dr. Duckor's halves and Dr. Shireman's halves contribute to their value and significance in the history of coin collecting.
All-Time Greatest Collection of Barber Half Dollars to be Auctioned in Boston, Part 1 – 08/03/10
Barber Halves, Part 2
JeffM:
One of the points that I make in the current article on the Shireman set is that Barber halves in general are inexpensive. In the past, I devoted a whole article to collecting Barber halves in AU-55 to MS-63.
Building a Set of Almost Uncirculated-55 to ‘Mint State’-63 Barber Half Dollars
I'm definitely not a Barber fan but probably would be if they all looked like the 06-S!