Barber Half Collection

I just finished straightening my Barber Half Collection. Photos below if interested.

 

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That looks good. I only have 2 Barber halves. One I bought and the other I found CRH'ing.

 

I was very fortunate that they were quite readily available when I was young. A couple of these were what people call a "pocket piece" that is an old coin carried around in the pocket for luck or something. They are worn very smooth. You can see them if you look close. When I saw them I would offer a buck or so and the coin would be mine.

 

I would like to add that finding a Barger CRH'ing is awesome.

 

That is my favorite kind of coin.

 

That's an impressive set you don't see too often.

 

Thank you.

 

Lots of nice coins there, and I really like the backstory on how it was assembled; truly "old school!"

 

All I can say is WOOOOOW!!!

 

Old school indeed............

 

@Inspector43 I absolutely love this collection, as I do so many of the collections you post.

Did you acquire the lion's share of this collection on Saturday mornings rolling coins on the bank vault floor? I can just see little @Inspector43 sitting on the vault floor in his jeans, PF Flyers, t-shirt and baseball cap searching every coin that passed through his hands before being inserted into a roll. Good times, I'm sure.

 

Awesome job. I have quite a few. I like them a lot. One day, I will sit down and put them together like you. Thanks so much for sharing this inspiration.

 

I would like to put together a history of my efforts but it would be quite long.

 

At the risk of being too talkative, I am answering some questions about my childhood collecting routine:

Building a collection of circulated coins in “the good old days” was not all that difficult. All you needed was determination and dedication. If you think about it the total face value of 20th Century circulation coins is about $275. There were a max 5 different coins produced by each mint: Penny, Nickel, Dime, Quarter and Half. That is 91 cents. Given that most years there were three mints operating, that makes it $2.73 per year for a complete set for one year. Of course, some years there were 4 mints operating and some years on one or two. So, let’s just say that the face value of a complete Twentieth Century Circulation Set is $300. You now have determination and dedication but need resources (funding and adequate sources of coins).

There was a more than adequate source of coins at the time. Virtually any coin ever put in circulation was available. I even got a Twenty Cent piece in change one time. Looking at enough coins you would see Indian Head Cents, Liberty Nickels, Buffalo Nickels, Barber Dimes Quarters and Halves, Standing Liberty Quarters, Walking Liberty Halves, and the occasionally earlier stuff.

When I was very young my family and relatives helped with resources. Dad would get home from work very late sometimes. He was an Engineer on the RR. Every morning there would be some coins on the table from his pocket change. Relatives would hold anything that looked interesting and ask if I needed it. The other resource was your feet and a bicycle. The town was about 30,000 and most all kids walked or road a bike. Predators didn’t exist then as they do now.

Another resource was the informal coin club. There were a few other youngsters that were as interested as me. And, they had other sources in their own neighborhoods. We would get together from time to time and have a “swap meet”. We never were interested in making money, but we were quite aware of scarcity. We might have to trade several coins for one that is more difficult.

There were three Mom & Pop grocery stores very close to our home. I helped them around the store a lot, stocking shelves and coolers, cleaning, etc. I got paid a little and complete access to the cash register. As I got older, I would be a clerk in one of the stores. I am very serious when I say that the owners of these stores allowed me to walk in, open the register and search it anytime I wanted. The brother of the owner of one store saved Indian Head Pennies. He had coffee cans full of them hidden all around the basement. He and his wife were very old at the time. Sometimes as I walked by his house, I would see he and his wife working and would stop and help. I never asked for pay, that is just the way things were back then. However, occasionally he would open a can full of IHC’s and offer me a few. Yes, he would let me dump it out and look through them. When I was 13, I began working as a pin setter at the local bowling alley. That usually paid about $6 a night during league times. A good source of income to feed my hobby.

The searching became routine for me. After school I would walk home and pass the shop that serviced juke boxes and pinball machines. Sometimes I would help with chores and roll coins for him. People using juke boxes and pinball machines were not critical about the coins they dropped in. Very good hunting ground. I would stop at the “Mom & Pops” to visit and search. If they needed help with anything I would always offer. A couple of nights a week the local amusement park was open. If I was available, I would ride my bike out there and help with minor chores. The rides were like 10 cents, 25 cents, etc. They always needed help rolling change. Then there was the bank on Saturday morning. Plus, on most days, if you had a dollar, you could trade it for a Morgan or Peace.

So, you see, getting all the coins up to the middle of the Twentieth Century (1964 when it all dried up) was more a matter of tenacity than money - not much more than a couple hundred dollars.

 

Great story!! Thanks for sharing!!

 

Super cool.

I get so invested in "buy the best coin you can" that i have kinda lost touch of the reality of this obsession i have with coins. This post makes me wanna start looking at some old circulated toned up silvers that i can pick up and hold.

 

Yes, I have sets of basically coins that had to work for a living. I am careful with them but not afraid to hold them.

 

I just finished a set of Barber halves in G/AG mostly, so your post caught my eye. I set pins also when 8 and 9 yrs old at 8 cents a line. When I started collecting the first time, I worked in an office (1962) that had a change machine that would change a five, giving 4 ones in a tube and a $ worth of change. Walkers, Standing Liberty quarters, Mercury dimes and Buffalo nickels were still very common. My Mom worked at a university snack bar and saved every silver dollar that came across the counter from students.

 

We got 10 cents a line. But, they held back 2 cents for a bonus. If you stayed for the entire league season you would get the 2 cents per line as a bonus. An awesome amount for a young kid in the 50's.

 

Great collection Inspector! Barbers are a tough coin to collect but yours looks fantastic.