CoinTalk Members Share Barber Coins; One Describes Hub Types Found on 1900-O Half Dollars

This article is based on posts in the CoinTalk forum thread "It's a "Barber Bonanza!". Post those coins please....." The posting date is not shown in the source. What follows are the statements and opinions of individual members, not confirmed facts.

A member posting as SensibleSal66 asked others to post pictures of coins designed by Charles E. Barber. The member showed an 1892-S Barber quarter that they said they found while metal detecting one year.

Coins Members Shared

lordmarcovan wrote that their best dug Barber quarter was an 1894-O with high XF details. The member said they recently traded away a 1915-P half dollar, and that they once had an 1898 half dollar in PCGS PR63 CAM but no longer have photos of it.

alurid posted a 2 centavos and a 20 centavos from Cuba, 1915. KBBPLL wrote that Barber's Cuba designs might hold the longevity record: the 2 centavos was used until 2010, the 5 centavos until 2015, and Numista still credits him for the 20 centavos until 2021.

KBBPLL also wrote about a recent acquisition, wondering how many collectors know that Barber did the obverse and Morgan did the reverse. Other members posted an 1898-O coin, a 1900-O half dollar and a Barber half dollar the member said was found with a metal detector (the post is labeled "2024").

Four Combinations on 1900-O Half Dollars

KBBPLL said they wrote an article on 1900-O half dollars for the BCCS journal. According to the post, a new obverse hub type introduced in 1901 was already known. KBBPLL wrote that justafarmer had discovered a second reverse hub type, introduced in 1901, which was used sporadically until 1905 at both the S and O mints.

KBBPLL wrote that they then found both the new obverse and reverse types were used in New Orleans late in December 1900, after 1901 dies had already been shipped there. The post says New Orleans had been ordered to produce many half dollars and was out of usable dies. KBBPLL said they also tracked down a shipment of 4 die pairs on December 8, 1900. As a result, the member said, there are 4 hub type combinations for 1900-O half dollars.

KBBPLL also noted that there are two reverse types for 1892, and that these seem to be the only ones that third-party graders and collectors really care about. The member said to look at how much of the E and R are covered by the wing tips.

Differing Views

Collecting Nut wrote that they are not a big fan of Barber coins. Compared with the Bust and Liberty Seated designs, the member said, the Barber design is a letdown, but compared with today's circulating coins, it is exciting.

Source: CoinTalk, "It's a "Barber Bonanza!". Post those coins please....."