Barber Half Dollar

Telephone service became a reality between New York and Chicago and the Coca Cola Company got its start in Atlanta, Georgia in the year 1892. It was a time for new beginnings in the United States and changes were happening at the US Mint as well. Three new silver coins entered the stage, including the Barber Half Dollar.

The US Mint produced the Barber Half Dollar between 1892 and 1915 and the coin is named after the designer, Charles E. Barber. New half dollars were not struck much at all in the 1880s because the Mint had plenty of the older coins in its vaults to satisfy demand.

The Barber half dollar shows lady Liberty facing right with her hair bound in a cap and a laurel wreath resting on her hairline and a diadem bearing her name over her brow. IN GOD WE TRUST appears above Liberty with the date below and thirteen stars alongside.

On the reverse is a heraldic eagle with a shield superimposed on its breast and an olive branch in his right claw and a bundle of arrows in the left. On the top border is UNITED STATES OF AMERICA with E PLURIBUS UNUM on a ribbon in the eagle’s beak. There are thirteen stars above the eagle.

Annual production of the Barber Half Dollar never was more than six million coins in any given mint, with Philadelphia making just over 5.5 million in 1899. Barber halves were minted in New Orleans, San Francisco and Denver as well, with the mintmark placed under the eagle’s tail.