The following article is reprinted from the Journal of the Barber Coin Collectors' Society, Volume 18, Number 3.

The following article contains the results of the Census and Rarity Survey of Barber Halves. It is made available here because the Census and Rarity Survey was open to the general collecting public, not just the members of the BCCS.

During the first half of 2007, the BCCS conducted a Census and Rarity Survey of Barber Halves. This was a follow-on to the Quarters survey we performed last year. With the last BCCS survey on the Halves being over a decade ago, the primary purpose was to update our knowledge of the series as to both the populations of coins already in collectors’ hands, and also the opinions of collectors as to the relative scarcity of the different dates in a wide range of grades. This is the second of four planned surveys to be conducted over the next couple of years. This article will look very similar to last year’s on the Quarters.

This project consisted of two parts:

• A Census for collectors to report their holdings for each date and grade level

• A Rarity Survey for collectors to express their opinions as to the relative scarcity of the different dates in the series in various grades.

There was a very strong response to the survey, with nearly 120 collectors reporting over 14,000 coins! With the survey being open to the general public, a number of guests participated via the BCCS website in addition to the BCCS membership.

While the Census data provides very interesting and useful information, care should be taken when making use of this information. There are a number of important caveats that must be considered, and we repeat them here.

Limited sampling: Many collectors possess Barber Halves as type coins, and others have them as part of a year set (e.g., 1899). Lots more are in the hands of people that inherited them from grandparents, and the like. Although this survey was open to all collectors (not just BCCS members), only those guests who attended a BCCS meeting at a coin show, discovered our web site, or who read about the survey in Coin World or by word of mouth, participated in the survey (or have even heard of BCCS). Therefore, the majority of holders of Barber Halves did not participate in the survey, and all of those coins are not represented here.

On or off the market: One assumption that is often made by readers is that a coin Census represents a cross section of the coins generally available in the marketplace. This, of course, is not true, as the reported coins are those that are already in collections and thus off the market. For the keys and semi-keys, which perhaps were acquired after a long search, they are often impounded in collections and off the market for a very long time.

One collector, one coin: Most collectors simply don’t buy coins in proportion to those on the market. Many people are putting together a set, in which case they will often buy only one specimen of each date and mint. However, if the collector believes certain dates are scarce and undervalued, he or she may purchase additional examples as an investment, or for later trades with other collectors. This can result in a collector possessing more examples of the scarcer dates than the common ones. Even if this doesn’t happen, the rare dates will appear to be equally available as common dates.

Upgrading: Many collectors strive for coins in a certain grade range. However, they may have to settle for a different (usually lower) grade of the scarcer dates until they find one in the desired grade, often after a long search. Once upgraded, many collectors will keep the duplicates of the keys and semi-keys for future trades. For the common readily-available dates, most collectors will simply wait to purchase pieces in the desired grade. Again, this would tend to skew the census in favor of the scarcer dates.

Hoarding: Some collectors have an interest in certain dates. Others may have affinity for coins produced at certain mints. However, most hoarding seems to occur with issues that are considered scarce and undervalued

Therefore, when trying to interpret the Census, one must bear the previous points in mind. It is for these reasons that we also conducted the Rarity Survey as a complement to the Census.

Over 14,500 coins were reported by 116 participants, including 83 members and 33 guests (via the website). 49 people reported complete sets of the 73 regular issues (minus the 1892-O Micro O), and 11 of those people had two or more complete sets. I was personally surprised that there were more Barber Halves reported this year than Barber Quarters in last year’s census, by slightly fewer respondents.

Total Barber Halves reported by grade:

Some additional details and observations

To nobody’s surprise, the very rare 1892-O Micro O was far and away the least reported coin. But it may be surprising that as many as 18 of them were reported. This writer has heard estimates of total surviving specimens in the range of 35-55 coins, and the number reported in this Census is one-third to one-half of those estimates. Still, since many of the serious Barber collectors are either members of, or know of the BCCS, perhaps it is not a huge surprise that a significant percentage of the Micro O coins are in the hands of BCCS members or guests.

The most reported dates in the survey were the common later dates, plus the 1899. There was no clear “most common date” in the series based on this census, although the 1912 was the most reported coin. Other than the 1892-O Micro O, there were no clear key dates, but quite a few semi-keys. The lowest population coins (1892-S, 1892-O) were held in numbers only slightly lower than any of the other early years. And a coin that may be a key date in lower grades isn’t necessarily a key in higher grades. For the 1892-O, 31 coins were reported in G, only one more than the population in AU! Far fewer were reported in the middle grades. All in all, there was a fairly smooth ramp-up of populations from the 117 for 1892-S to 296 for 1912, with no clear dividing line between the semi-keys and rest.

As can be seen in the breakdown by grades, the majority reported were in G or VG. The lower count of AG coins can be attributed to the large melting of the early 1980’s, plus a number of people remarked that they did not bother to report their lowest grade coins. Very few proofs were reported, far less than last year’s census of Barber Quarters. In addition, relatively few MS coins were reported, even for the “common” dates. Perhaps this is due to the greater expense of uncirculated halves compared to the dimes and quarters.

Only one complete set in Mint State was reported in the Census, and that set was one of the top three Registry Sets that were displayed a couple of years ago at the Long Beach show. This single set represented the only MS specimen reported for a few of the dates, including the Micro O and the 1904-S.

The 1907-S/S was the most frequently-reported variety, with 25 coins. The 1892 Tripled Die Reverse came in at 6 pieces, as did the write-in 1909-S over inverted S. Some others were reported, including several repunched mintmarks: 1913-D/D and 1903-S/S, along with one 1892 without Barber’s initial “B” at the truncation of the bust.

There was much speculation among some members about whether the rumored 1898-O Micro O variety would be reported, but not one respondent listed this still-unconfirmed issue in their submission.

There was some hoarding evident in the census, and it seemed to be spread across many of the dates, including the common ones. In addition to the reported coins, there was one collector that mentioned to Eileen in an email that he had over 200 Barber Halves from the low mintage years of 1910, 1913, 1914, 1915, with the focus on the 1914. Unfortunately, that collector didn’t submit a census, so those coins are not reflected here. The champion hoarder reported 2,000 Barber Halves of all dates, mostly AG-VG grades. That’s 100 rolls!

To supplement the Census and help collectors set expectations on how easy or difficult some coins will be to find in certain grades, we also conducted a Rarity Survey, where collectors could offer their opinion of relative availability of the better date coins. Here they could express how difficult it was for them to find certain coins (or those they have been looking for without success). Rarity Rating definitions accompany the results. We did not poll for the more common issues, though several respondents made comments on a few of those as well.

To publish the rarity ratings for the entire series in one place, we have added the ratings for the more common dates (from earlier works) to the results of the current survey of better dates.

R1: Common date and grade
R2: Better date and grade
R3: Tough date – available, but may require some looking
R4: Scarce – may or may not find at larger shows/auctions
R5: Very scarce – only a few offered for sale each year
R6: Almost never seen – only one or two may be offered for sale in a year’s time
R7: Rare – a single specimen might, on average, be offered for sale once every few years
R8: Unique, or nearly so

Once again, the Rarity Survey got fairly good results. Most collectors only expressed opinions on specific grade ranges that they have actively been looking for, while others only offered opinions on the specific dates that they are interested in. Like last year, there were many people that stated that the Rarity Ratings listed in The Complete Guide to Barber Halves, by David Lawrence, were mostly still accurate, and only provided opinions for the coins they believed had changed since the book was written.

All in all, there was a lot of consensus among Rarity Survey respondents, although there were a few coins that had a wide variance, mostly depending on whether the respondent had found one or not in their desired grade. Some dates had minor shifts in ratings from previous surveys, but nothing dramatic. Once again, I think we learned a lot about the relative availability of the coins in this difficult series. Dave’s book told us that many Barber Halves are really tough to find in higher circulated grades (lots of R4 and R5 listings), and this survey seemed to confirm this. And the census data seemed to back this assertion up in most instances.

There were some changes to some of the key dates since the last BCCS Rarity Survey and Dave’s Complete Guide book. A number of the dates and grades that had previously been listed with high rarity ratings have fallen slightly. Remembering the definitions, any coin with a rarity rating above R5 is extremely difficult to find (no more than one or so per year for sale anywhere), and only a select few dates and grades are really worthy of that lofty distinction.

A number of coins were explicitly listed by members as being underrated. Most frequently mentioned in this category were the 1893-S and 1904-O in higher circulated grades. Others mentioned by several people included 1908-P and 1911-S in VF or better. Several listed by members as probably overrated included 1896-O, 1897-S, and 1898-O, and 1909-O in VF-XF grades.

The 1892-O Micro O was the only coin that warranted an R7 rating, in all grades above G. Dave had the coin listed as R8 in the middle grades, but when the book was published, there were only about a dozen known in all grades. Clearly more have been discovered over the years, and with two reported here in both F and VF, it is unlikely they are the only ones in existence, probably making the coin a high R7 in those grades, but not R8. Most of the coins exist in AG and G.

The Micro O aside, no coins kept an R6 rating in circulated grades. This resulted in a slight lowering of the rarity ratings for 1897-O and 1904-S. The 1904-S was previously perceived to be almost impossible to find (R6) in XF and up, but with the huge gains in the price of this coin (more so than any other date), it has brought a number of XF and AU pieces out of hiding, and in the past couple of years, one could obtain one if they could stomach the price they had to pay for it. As evidence of its new R5 rating, 32 pieces were reported in XF and AU combined, more than a number of the earlier dates.

However, in Mint State, the 1904-S continues to be most people’s choice for the most difficult coin in the regular set. In mint state grades, respondents gave an R6 rating to only two other coins – the 1896-O and the 1901-S.

Several people had an interesting viewpoint about the availability of the 1904-S in AU and MS. They said that there are actually a few more AU coins available than people think because a few of them are in MS slabs! I have to admit that there is some truth to this. I have personal knowledge of a wonderful and original AU58 coin in a slab (one of the major services) with a little wear but a fantastic look. This coin had the sad misfortune of being cracked out and dipped, and it is now in an MS61 holder (the other major service). Now, it is white and without character, still shows definite wear on the cheek, and all the originality is gone (but worth a whole lot more because of the MS holder). Too bad. For the record, it wasn’t me, and knowing what happened to that wonderful coin made me ill.

On that topic, many, many, people voiced the view that most Barber Halves in the middle circulated grades and up are extremely difficult to find now in original, uncleaned, condition. They are locked away in people’s collections because they know how scarce they are, and when they do appear, a significant premium is usually necessary to obtain them. So, when you find a date that you really need and it’s nice and original, the participants in this survey indicate that you may need to stretch a bit to get it, and you might be wise to do it.

This Census and Rarity Survey was intended to provide collectors of Barber Halves some additional and updated information that will help them understand the relative availability and scarcity of the different issues in all of the major grade ranges. Due to the impressive participation, along with the quality of the responses, I think we did that.

Please use the results in any manner that will be useful for your purposes, and we hope that the results will prove to be valuable information for you.

We look forward to conducting a Census and Rarity Survey for the Barber Dimes and Liberty Nickels over the next couple of years.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this project.

Happy hunting

  Barber Coin Collectors' Society      --      Founded 1989      --      Email:   bccs@BarberCoins.org