Today I bought a 1911 barber half for $20 at the local shop. He (the dealer) listed it as fine. I looked at the headband and I can see LIBE clearly, with the TY strong an only the bottom of the R shows faintly. Is this a vf or f coin? I also got 2 F-VF barber dimes @ $1 each and a "burnt"barber quarter in vf for 2.50 from him
According to the RedBook in F-12 LIBERTY must be nearly legable, but worn. In VF all the letters must be clear and plain. Sounds like it's a F-12. B
I would need to see the coin in hand to see if there were any problems that are on most barber coinage of that timeframe, but assuming there are none (this is a BIG assumption) then it sounds to me like a slider F 15/VF 20 coin. As BD pointed out, all letters need to be sharp for for a technical VF. Depending on eye-appeal and/or problems the grade could go up or down, and I would warn you against trying to grade barber coins by only looking at LIBERTY. A picture would be really nice. A little piece of advice -- when collecting circulated barber coinage, don't worry so much about technical grade -- worry about original surfaces and eye appeal. Shun cleaned or dipped coins. Purchasing pretty, circulated, original barber coins is not easy, but will pay off in the long run. Hope this helps...Mike
