Are Barbers getting scarcer?

I have been collecting barber dimes and sometimes quarters for the last year and a half or so. I have completely exhausted the shops in the area I live for better date dimes and quarters for the most part. So this Christmas, when I finally got back from my deployment we went to San Antonio to see family. While I was there I hit up one of the bigger coin shops in the area (the only one that was open that day that wasn't on the opposite side of town) and I was amazed. They had exactly one better date barber dime, an 1895 in a solid g-4 with complete rims on both obv and rev. Needless to say I snapped it up at the $65 price tag, as that is about 75% of what I've seen them at, even for an AG and asked for more barber dimes and some better date quarters as well. They had nada, nothing, zilch, all that was left was a bargain box of ag-3 and borderline good common date dimes and quarters. I know I searched the whole box. So I ask this, other that that great big auction site, has anyone else who collects barbers been running into the same problems?

 

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Seems to be the same here....few Barber dimes to be had. However, Barber halves seem to be everywhere, and cheap, so I've been picking a lot up at not much over bullion.
Guy~

 

bq:
I have been accumulating all of the Barbers (dimes, quarters & half dollars) that I have seen without problems for years now.
And I have a couple of them (except for the 1901 S quarter [have a nice fake] and the 1892 O micro O half dollar).

They are getting harder & harder.

Years ago I could have my pick of any date at a decent size coin show, today, even the 1897 S quarter and any 1895 dime is a scarce event.

 

bqcoins,

IMHO, people that know the barber series and the current value of silver see a wonderful buying opportunity. I for one do not collect for metal content, but rather the historic value of the coin. I few months ago I saw a man purchase a large group of barber half dollars for only the silver content. The dealer cleaned out his over stock that way. I was 15 minutes too late.

If you have the money try teletrade or heritage.

 

I collect the Barber dimes in VF to AU, and the problem-free non-common dates have always been a bit difficult. I'm not ready to pay auction house prices for the slabs any more, I get outbid every time these days. I have a couple dealers with my Barber wish list. Thus I've resigned myself to zen-like patience. They'll show up eventually.

 

First Post

I just finished putting together a barber dime set. I've spent 3 years working on it and would agree that over the last 6 months or so the pickings have become slim.

The 01-S was the hardest one for me to find. (stumbled across a 95-O in G-4 for under $200)

 

Good information. Maybe I'll take a look at barbers as a bullion substitute with a numismatic kicker. I frequently buy for bullion content when there is potential future numismatic value for only a small premium over melt value.

 

What Barbers I buy don't seem to be popping up much these days. I have to admit I haven't been buying in the past few months though.

I don't really collect them other than a few "sleepers". Got my 13, 14 and 15 halves and I've also picked up a few 10P. The 1910 seems like it's always difficult to locate in decent shape if you can locate them.

Same goes for quarters. I go after the 09-O, 13, 14-S and 15-S and they seem increasingly tough to find.

I hate to think of them being let loose as "bullion" but if that's the case I'll be stepping up my efforts for a lot more dates.

 

I can say that we currently are not seeing any better date Barber Dimes as of late. I don't think we have any better date Barber Dimes in stock at all. It seems like we can obtain the better date Barber Quarters and Halves somewhat easier, normally in VG or lower grades.

Now midgrade Barber Quarters and Halves are a completely different story.....darn near impossible to find.

 

where can i geta high grade barber specimen? i have been searching for any months now?

 

I have heard stories of many people finding barbers metal detecting. Maybe they are all in the ground!!

 

I don't know. The majority of the halves I've seen have all been G-F. I've see these sell for $12 all day, but not too many high grade halves around here lately. Same with the quarters. Anything over VG is way too expensive all of a sudden.
Guy~

 

Bad things are happening to the dimes.
I found this one in a grab bag.
I guess it's a 3/4 dime.

 

I picked up an '02-S Barber half off eBay sometime ago (early '07?) in EF-AU condition and I fell in love with the series. It's a somewhat better date, but not terribly so, but just for kicks I do a search for that date all over and cannot seem to find another one in any grade. I hope to continue the collection in this grade range.

 

well i bought a barber ms65 beaut and i was lookign for something similar for the half any ideas?

 

Jetshack:
1) Welcome to the forum!
2) a 95-O for under $200!!!!!!!!!
Great deal!!
Nice, I haven't found a properly graded one in ages.

 

I bought the 95 O from GRcoins.com. If I remember right the selling price was $195 but there was a 5% discount if you spent $200 so I picked up something else for $5 to make the total $190 shipped.

He had it graded as AG. For the life of me I can't figure out why. It has full rims, full date, no scratches. It's obviously been cleaned at some point in it's life, but no more so than most other AG-F Barbers.

Anyway... don't know if I'm supposed to plug sites or not... I'm not connected to that site in any way other than being a satisfied customer.

I enjoyed working on the dimes so much that now I've decided to start on the halves. Don't think I'll ever start on the quarters though because there's little chance of me being able to complete them.

Right now I'm picking up halves as I run across them that are G4ish that are close to melt value. I'm not paying much attention to what I'm actually buying. I'm also picking up low mintage Halves where I can if the price seems low (less than a million minted selling for less than $15).

Once I finish my MS63 Roosie set I'll start on these bad boys for real. But that set is harder to put together than I thought it was going to be. I'm finally to the point where I can see the end though. I'm down to just needing a few of the S Proofs, S Silver Proofs, and P Proofs.

 

I have a couple of barber dimes that i received about forty years ago. My aunt use to own a grocery store in Ny city she use to give me some good coins like a 1903s barber dime a key date , unfortunitly it' s only in good condition about G3 I don't think these are a popular coins, but the ones that are getting harder to find are the key dates in any condition.I don't like the design of the coin. I look at the art work on the coin. one of the most beautiful coins to me are, the walking liberty halves

jazzcoins joe

 

Nice to see this reawakened.

As I have always said: I miss the barbers.

Now I have to go to a hair salon, at twice the price!

 

jazz:
To be technical:
It is either AG-3
or

G-4.