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The
Barber Dime
History of
the Barber Dime
In 1887, Mint
Director James P. Kimball noted in his annual report the “inferiority of our
coinage” compared to other advanced nations and that in his opinion, the coinage
of the U.S. was out of date and should be changed. At the request of
Kimball, Senator Justin S. Morill introduced a bill authorizing the Treasury
Department to redesign coins without first obtaining the permission of Congress,
as long as the current design had been in use for at least 25 years. The
bill passed on September 26, 1890 and the dime, quarter and half dollar were
targeted for change. The decision of who should redesign the coins
eventually fell to his successor, Edward O. Leech.
Ironically, new
designs were submitted by Mint engravers throughout the early 1880’s but the
only change that occurred was a new nickel designed by Charles E. Barber in
1883. In 1891, when there was discussion of a public competition for new
designs. Barber reported to Mint director Kimball that there was no one in the
country capable in assisting him in preparing original designs. Augustus
Saint-Gaudens confided to Kimball there were only four men in the world
competent do to such a redesign: three were in France and he was the fourth.
It did not matter. Kimball insisted that rather than going abroad to find the
best design talent available, it would be possible to find able designers in
America. Against the advice of Barber, the Treasury Department organized a
competition to produce new designs. A panel of 10 of the leading artist and
sculptors of the day were commissioned to judge which would be the best designs
for new coinage. The panel met and instead of discussing the competition, they
instead rejected the terms of the competition as proposed by Mint officials on
the ground that the preparation time was too short and the compensation woeful.
The Mint director rejected the panels’ suggestions and threw the competition out
to the public. The results were disastrous. Of the more than 300 drawings
submitted, only two received an honorable mention by a smaller judging panel.
It is interesting to note that two of the judges were Barber and Saint-Gaudens.
When Leech took
over as Mint director, he was well aware of the problems his predecessor had
experienced. In order to get new designs into production and avoid another
disaster of a competition, he simply directed Barber to draw up new designs.
This is what Barber had wanted all along has he felt as Chief Engraver, he, and
he alone was responsible for coin design.
The result was not
much in the way of originality. That would have to wait for more than another
25 years. What Barber did was to modify the large head used on the Morgan
dollar by adding a Liberty cap and cropping Liberty’s hair shorter in back. He
then placed his initial B on the truncation of the neck. This was the design
used
not only on the dime, but the new quarter and the new half dollar as well.
The reverse did not
go through much of an overhaul either as it uses almost the exact same reverse
of its predecessor, the Seated Liberty Dime. While many do not credit Barber
with much artistic ability, what he lacked in design capabilities he made up for
in knowledge in regards to designing a coin that would withstand a modern
high-speed coin press. On January 2, 1892, the first of over half a billion
Barber dimes were struck.
Collectibility
General
The Barber dime series consists of 74
regular issues, plus the super-rare 1894-S. While half a billion dimes for an
entire series pales in comparison to today’s coin production, it was big numbers
back in the 1800’s. With a low relief, Barber dimes faired well and although
there are a few semi-key issues (not including 1894-s), an entire set in
circulated condition can be assembled for under $1500.00 in G4 or so condition.
As is common with many series of this time period, Philadelphia was the main
producer of coinage. The San Francisco and New Orleans mint typically produced
far few examples in almost all years of production making earlier years more
difficult to obtain. Denver did not begin producing Barber dimes until 1906.
Key/Semi Key Dates
While most Barber Dimes are obtainable, one of the
rarest of all coins came from this series. The 1894-S dime had a total mintage
of 24 and only 10 can now be accounted for which presents one of the great
numismatic mysteries of the time. Allegedly, 24 pieces were struck at the order
of San Francisco Mint Superintendent J. Daggett. Of the ten known, all were
struck from the same set of dies. The best known story is that Daggett gave
three to his daughter Hallie and told her to keep them until she was as old as
he was, when they would be worth a lot of money. On her way home from the mint,
her newfound riches got the best of her and she spent one of the dimes on a dish
of ice cream. Today that coin is known as the ice cream specimen. Although
there is no to prove it was the one that a young Hallie spent, one of the known
specimens is heavily circulated. It has been graded as a G4 while all other
coins are MS/PR60+ condition. Robert Freidberg bought this coin over the
counter for $2.40 (24 times face value) at Gimbels Department Store, NY, in
1957. If it is the “Ice Cream Specimen”, it certainly got around.
Why did the mint only produce 24 dimes that year?
There are two stories. The first is that the coins were struck to provide a
balance of forty cents needed to close a bullion account at the San Francisco
Mint by June 30, 1894 - the end of the fiscal year. Since any even numbered (2,
4, 6, 8) dollar amount ending in forty cents was acceptable, the employees were
said to have struck 24 pieces, or $2.40. The expectation was that the Mint would
receive orders for more dimes before the end of the calendar year. December 31
passed without a request for further production. According to the story, two
or three pieces were obtained by Mint employees "just to have a new dime," and
when they realized the coins were now rare, they sold them to collectors for $25
or more apiece. The remaining 1894-S dimes went into a bag with other dimes and
into circulation. The more widely accept story is that the dimes were minted as
a special request for some visiting bankers. According to an account from
California dealer Earl Parker, who bought the two remaining dimes that Hallie
Daggett had, Hallie told Parker that her father minted the coins and presented 3
to each of the 7 visitors and gave the remaining three to her which has
previously mentioned, she spent one dime on ice cream.
Most experts believe the “visiting
bankers” theory as the likely reason. Of the known high grade coins, they all
seem to be proof strikes. It is unlikely that such care would have taken place
to produce a few dimes to even out the books but it quite likely for coins made
for presentation.
Putting the 1894-S aside, most, if
not all dimes are readily available in low grades. Collecting the series in
higher grades is still achievable but certainly more challenging. Recall that
this coin was heavily circulated. Assembling a collecting of all MS65 or
better, while no doubt out of the financial reach of most collectors, is
possible, as there is at least 1 coin graded in MS65 by PCGS for each mint and
year. For the rest of us, collecting this series in average circulated grades
is without a doubt doable. Back during the days of this coin, a dime was real
money and as such, this series is heavily circulated. While many dates had
mintages in the millions, there are a few dates where the total mintage is
around 500,000 thereby making the acquisition of these a little more challenging
and painful to the wallet/purse. For example, the 1895-O had a mintage of
440,000. Obtaining this coin in a grade of G to VG could cost you between
$400-$600. It only gets worse from there as an XF-40 will cost you over $2000.
The 1901-S had a mintage of 593,022 and is not quite as expensive and can be had
for less than $100 in G condition and for around $500 in XF-40 condition. The
1903-S had a mintage of 613,300 and is similar priced on lower grades but is
higher priced than the 1901-S in higher grades suggesting the 1903-S did not
fair as well in circulation. The second lowest mintage dime was the 1913-S with
a mintage of 510,000. While having the second lowest mintage, it is not in the
top 10 as far as price and can be had for around $20 in G4 and $35 for VG8.
Earlier coins, even those with mintages over a million pieces, will cost you
more than the 1913-S suggesting that earlier dates, even those with high
mintages may be tough to acquire.
If the cost of an entire set is too
much, a year set could prove to be a much more frugal approach. As mentioned
earlier, the Philadelphia mint generally produced the majority of Barber dimes.
The only year that a branch-mint exceeded production of Philadelphia was in 1895
when Philadelphia produced only 690,880 pieces while San Francisco produced
1,120,000. With the expectation of a few earlier dates, most Philadelphia
examples can be obtained for a few dollars in G4 and for less than $10.00 per
coin in F to VF condition.
If you are into collecting Barber
type coins, the Barber dime may be just the ticket for the budget conscience
collector.
Errors
The Barber dime series consists two
major varieties (1893/2-P and 1905-O micro-O).
Proofs
There are 24 coins
in the proof Barber dime series, not counting the branch mint proof 1894-S. The
mintages range from 425 for the 1914 to 1,245 for the first-year-of-issue 1892.
A grand total of 17,353 proof coins were produced for the whole series. While
extremely low, the rarest of proofs in MS-65 is the 1908 with 12 pieces
certified at PCGS.
Vital Statistics
Summary
Key Coin Info
Designed by: Charles E. Barber
Issue dates: 1892-1916
Composition: 0.900 part silver, 0.100 part copper
Diameter: 17.9 mm.
Weight: 38.58 grains
Edge: Reeded
Business strike mintage: 504,317,075
Proof mintage: 17,353
Mintage
Date Mint Pop
1892 P 12,121,245
1892 O 3,841,700
1892 S 990,710
1893 P 3,340,792
1893 O 1,760,000
1893 S 2,491,401
1894 P 1,330,972
1894 O 720,000
1894 S -
1895 P 690,880
1895 O 440,000
1895 S 1,120,000
1896 P 2,000,762
1896 O 610,000
1896 S 575,056
1897 P 10,869,264
1897 O 666,000
1897 S 1,342,844
1898 P 16,320,735
1898 O 2,130,000
1898 S 1,702,507
1899 P 19,580,846
1899 O 2,650,000
1899 S 1,867,493
1900 P 17,600,912
1900 O 2,010,000
1900 S 5,168,270
1901 P 18,860,478
1901 O 5,620,000
1901 S 593,022
1902 P 21,380,777
1902 O 4,500,000
1902 S 2,070,000
1903 P 19,500,755
1903 O 8,180,000
1903 S 613,300
1904 P 14,601,027
1904 S 800,000
1905 P 14,552,350
1905 O 3,400,000
1905 S 6,855,199
1906 P 19,958,406
1906 D 4,060,000
1906 O 2,610,000
1906 S 3,136,640
1907 P 22,220,575
1907 D 4,080,000
1907 O 5,058,000
1907 S 3,178,470
1908 P 10,600,545
1908 D 7,490,000
1908 O 1,789,000
1908 S 3,220,000
1909 P 10,240,650
1909 D 954,000
1909 O 2,287,000
1909 S 1,000,000
1910 P 11,520,551
1910 D 3,490,000
1910 S 1,240,000
1911 P 18,870,543
1911 D 11,209,000
1911 S 3,520,000
1912 P 19,350,700
1912 D 11,760,000
1912 S 3,420,000
1913 P 19,760,622
1913 S 510,000
1914 P 17,360,655
1914 D 11,908,000
1914 S 2,100,000
1915 P 5,620,450
1915 S 960,000
1916 P 18,490,000
1916 S 5,820,000
Barber Dime News
Updated : Sat, 05 Jul 2008 12:37:45 GMT
Publ.Date : Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:05:46 GMT
Publ.Date : Wed, 11 Jun 2008 06:14:55 GMT
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