Hi all, I am iced in here in Ohio so I thought I might head down to the local dealer to get a dollar or two face value worth of junk silver. I looked through his half dollar box and snatched up this 1901-O Barber Half. It looked really good so I went home to check the grade on it. I've only been collecting for a month so I don't want to overgrade this, but at the same time a VF version (which is what I think this is) is worth a whopping $225, a monster profit over the $10 I spent on it. Hope these pics are ok (my cell phone did surprisingly well). I can see every letter in LIBERTY, albeit not the entire letter on some. On the reverse, I'm not sure what the ANA guide means when it says "shield is worn but all details are visible". Does that mean every line in it's entirety? I would think any wear at all would begin to obscure the shield lines. That being said, I think the obverse is a strong VF20, and the reverse either a weak VF20 or strong F15. Also there are some small rim nicks. A VF20 is $225, and a F12 is $90. I'm going to take a stab and value this at $170 due to the weaker reverse and small nicks. What say you? I plan on selling this as soon as possible to fund other coins I'm after. Thanks in advance for any help.
Hmm...not that I doubt you, but what source do you use? I was looking at PCGS photograde and the obverse is a dead on match to their VF20 and the reverse is very close to their F15. I feel it also looks better than the F12 ANA but not as good as the VF30 ANA photos. What am I not looking at that brings it down that low? Is it the rim nicks that pull it down? Of course I am still happy to pull a VG/F.
Liberty not complete, that is requirement for F on obverse and one of the key grading areas. The shield on the reverse incomplete, for VF all of the lines should show. Also look at the wingtips, they are completely smooth. A VF would have much more detail in all of the feathers, with just a small amount worn smooth. That is what the others were evaluating when they gave you the grade, amongst other areas. Still a good pickup.
Well, according to my ANA guide LIBERTY being complete isn't a requirement until VF30. VF20 says they just must be visible, which they all are. And yeah, I agree on the weak reverse. So would you say this could be a strong Fine?
start grandpa rant/ when I was learning to grade Barber coins, a clearly readable "LIBERTY" was necessary to get a very fine rating /end grandpa rant. I'd rate your coin a solid fine, and well worth the $10 you paid, which is basically melt.
What you have is a solid Fine. It's got a really nice original look to it as well. For $10 you stole it IMO. It's not got enough of the LIBERTY to technically be a VF20, but I will say that I have 2 PCGS VF20s that are about that worn on the obverse, however the reverse, even being a New Orleans coin (O mints are notorious for being poorly struck) that's what should hold the coin to, IMO, an F15 grade. You're in further luck however, the 01-O is a better date, and were that coin holdered by PCGS (I see no reason from here why it wouldn't grade) it'd be worth $200-250 retail even as an F15. I paid, IIRC, $550 for my VF35 which is about market correct. MANY Better date Barber Halves in VF-XF bring WELL over price guide. Oh, I have a full set in PCGS VF-XF and made about, oh, 30-35 of the coins from raw coins.
