Thread: 1914 Barber

Hi all,

Saw this on the web. I'm having a hard time determining whether Barbers are Cleaned/Dipped or in actual AU-BU condition. What do you think about this one?

Looks like a nice XF

Originally Posted by Kirkuleez

Looks like a nice XF

Thanks! That's what I was thinking as well (well actually, a bit higher...I was guessing AU50ish). It seemed to have nice cartwheel luster in the first two pictures, but the second two threw me off, making me think it was dipped. The cruddy stuff around the devices is also usually a tell-tale sign of cleaning.

I wouldn't be shocked if it were dipped sometime in the past, but I would consider this a market acceptable coin.

Hi all,

Just received the coin in question in hand. Looks great (though it does look like it was possibly dipped and lightly whizzed on the reverse), and was wondering if anyone could assign a more specific grade now that I have clear pictures of it.

Assuming it is "market acceptable" as Kirkuleez said, what do you think it could grade? The front looks like it has not been cleaned nor whizzed and has about 25-40% of it's cartwheel luster still present. The reverse looks like it was lightly whizzed above/below the "ONE DIME" (not obvious) and possibly dipped based on the crud between the devices on the reverse. The reverse has around 30-45% of the cartwheel luster present, mainly on the outside of the devices (not the center).

I checked PCGS's Photograde and I believe it could hit a low AU grade (50-53). Looks a bit better than Choice XF and slightly worse than a normal AU.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance!

I'm going to stick with XF-45. It just has a little too much wear to be considered an AU. AU coins will have nearly all of the original mint luster present. I don't see any evidence of whizzing, but I do think it took a bath some time in the past.

Originally Posted by Kirkuleez

I'm going to stick with XF-45. It just has a little too much wear to be considered an AU. AU coins will have nearly all of the original mint luster present. I don't see any evidence of whizzing, but I do think it took a bath some time in the past.

Thanks for the response! Just for education's sake, where do you spot the most wear? Since I am not a Barber expert all I see is a bunch of blemishes lol (and to me, blemishes = AU)

Ehhh, I'd venture to call it an AU-example. It's retained a good amount of luster, which is typically and more consistently seen with AU-examples.

Good lookin' Barb!

-Brian