Owner Comments:
Over much of our nation’s coinage history, it has generally been customary to have uniform designs on our silver circulating coins. This was also true of the Barber Dime, Quarter, and Half Dollar. With the 1916 release of the Mercury Dime, Standing Liberty Quarter, and Walking Liberty Half, the Barber coins became our nation’s last coins to have uniform designs.
The obverse of all three Barber coins features a modest “Lady Liberty” with her hair cropped underneath a Phrygian cap, a laurel wreath on her head, and the word “Liberty” written on a band across the cap. Just as with the Barber Quarter, the reverse of Barber Half Dollar features an eagle reminiscent of the “Great Seal of the United States.” Clutched in the eagle’s right talon is an olive branch with 13 leaves, symbolizing peace, and in the eagle’s left talon are 13 arrows, symbolizing the power to wage war should our nation be threatened. Above the eagle’s head are 13 stars, representing the 13 original states. In the eagle’s beak is a banner with the motto “E Pluribus Unum,” Latin for “Out of Many One.”
The Barber Dime, Quarter, and Half Dollar, along with the Gobrecht Dollar, Morgan Dollar, and Saint Gaudens Double Eagle, also have the distinction of being identified by their designer (Charles Barber) rather than by their design. Never minted in large quantities, high-grade Barber Half Dollars command a premium in the marketplace.