BCCS - Literary Award Winners

BCCS Literary Award Winners

The Journal of the Barber Coin Collectors' Society has been published since Spring of 1989. In 1991, the BCCS had a Literary Contest for the articles in the first 12 issues, in Volumes I, II, and III. After a transition of leadership, no further contests were held until 1999, when an annual contest was created for articles in that year's issues, with the winner voted by the membership, and presented the following year.

Prizes were monetary in nature, with first place winning $50, second place $25, and third place receiving a free year's BCCS membership.

Beginning in 2016 (for the 2015 issues of the Journal), the contest has been enhanced. While the monetary prizes remain unchanged, the winner will also receive the new David Lawrence Literary Award, named in honor of David Lawrence Feigenbaum, one of the leading forces behind the creation of the BCCS, author of the original Complete Guide books on Barber coins, frequent contributor and Journal Editor, and founder of David Lawrence Rare Coins. Sadly, Dave passed away in 2002 after a battle with ALS. He remains one of the Barber greats of all time.

In 2019, the BCCS created a new award for favorite "Featured Collection" centerfold in the Journal. The new award was named the Mike Hayes Award in honor of a long-time member known for building particularly attractive collections of Barbers. Mike, who passed away in 2017, was also a co-instructor of the class, The Coinage of Charles Barber at the ANA Summer Seminar. The prize is a free year of BCCS membership.

BCCS David Lawrence Literary Award winners:

2022 - Questions of a Secretly Hidden Savings - Joe Casazza
2021 - Barber Quarters of a Dedicated Liberty Seated Collector - Bill Bugert
2020 - Collecting Barber Dimes Through the Years - Carl Feldman
2019 - Finding Buried Treasure, Part 3 - Dave Earp
2018 - In Search of Charles Barber - John Frost
2017 - Top 10 Overvalued AU Barber Dimes as a Function of Actual Scarcity - Scott Dallas
2016 - Circulated Barber Half Dollars – a Look Back at Two Decades of Specialization - Thomas Bush
2015 - A Simple Study on the Frequency of the Center Mintmark Position of the 1897-S Barber Quarter - Thomas Bush

The past winners of the BCCS Literary Awards are as follows:

2014 - Where Have All the 1899-S Quarters Gone? - Tim Glaue
2013 - Assembling a Set of Circulated Barber Quarters - Vernon Sebby
2012 - (Nearly) Completing a Set of Barber Quarters - David Lange
2011 - Reflections on Completing a Barber Set - David Lange
2010 - We All Have Memories of our Favorite Dates - Steve Hustad
2009 - Barber Coins: a Lifelong Addiction - David W. Lange
2008 - A Lifetime of Collecting Barber Coins - William Rodriguez
2007 - Estimating the Scarcity of Circulated Barber Half Dollars - Rich Dula
2006 - Share Your Passion for Collecting Barber Coins - Dan Flood
2005 - Barber Halves in VF-XF: One Tough Set to Complete - Dan Flood
2004 - Hunting Down Mid-grade Barber Halves - Robert M. Petty
2003 - Tracking the Elusive 1892-O "Micro O" Half Dollar - Michael Flanagan
2002 - Counterfeit 1901-S Quarters - John Frost
2001 - The Grading Nuances of Circulated Barber Halves - Tyler Child
2000 - winners not announced in the Journal
1999 - The Survival Rate of Barber Coins in Circulation - Russell Easterbrooks
1989-1991 - The Barber Dime Wreath - Russell Easterbrooks (1991)

Mike Hayes Favorite Featured Collection Award winners:

2022 - The Barberkeys Collection of Barber Halves - Vern Sebby
2021 - The Gettysburg Collection of Barber Quarters - Bill Bugert
2020 - The Face Value Set of Barber Halves - Richard Shimkus
2019 - The Barbernut Collection of Barber Halves - Barbernut

All future winners of the David Lawrence Literary Award and Mike Hayes Award will be announced at the BCCS Annual Meeting at each year's ANA convention.