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Item Specifics
- Coin: Barber
- Year: 1914
- Mint Location: San Francisco
- Denomination: 50C
- Circulated/Uncirculated: Circulated
- Grade: Ungraded
- Certification: Uncertified
- Strike Type: Business
- Composition: Silver
- Fineness: 0.9
- Precious Metal Content per Unit: 0.3617 oz
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Description
This is a 1914-S Barber half dollar struck at the San Francisco Mint in 90% silver. It is a late-series date with a mintage of just 992,000, in honest Very Good condition.
- Date: 1914-S, San Francisco (S mintmark below eagle\'s tail)
- Mintage: 992,000
- 90% silver, 12.5 grams, 0.3617 troy oz actual silver weight
- Raw coin, not certified
Grade (our in-house estimate, not certified): Very Good. The rims are full, and the date, stars, and legends are complete and bold. LIBERTY is partly readable on the headband, and the laurel leaves are worn but outlined. On the reverse, E PLURIBUS UNUM is readable and the shield lines are partly visible. For full disclosure, there are scattered scratches on the cheek and neck, including a vertical line down the neck, along with light scratches in the upper reverse field among the stars. The toning is mottled dark gray, heaviest in the reverse recesses. Please view all photos carefully, since they are part of the description.
Historical context: On August 15, 1914, the SS Ancon made the first official transit of the Panama Canal, which cut the sea route from New York to San Francisco by thousands of miles. Weeks earlier, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand had set off World War I in Europe. That July, a 19-year-old pitcher named Babe Ruth made his major league debut for the Boston Red Sox.
Series info: Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber designed the dime, quarter, and half dollar that were struck from 1892 to 1915. The obverse shows Liberty in a laurel wreath and Phrygian cap, and the reverse carries a heraldic eagle. Barber halves circulated heavily for decades, so most survivors are worn to Good or VG. The late 1913 to 1915 dates were struck in small numbers and are some of the harder dates in the series to find.
Silver value: Each Barber half contains 0.3617 troy ounces of pure silver, which gives this coin a solid bullion floor beneath its collector value.
Curiosity Coins — Medway, Massachusetts | Est. 1999 | ANA • PCGS • NGC • Heritage sales Member / Buying & selling US and world coins, silver, gold, currency, and collectibles since 1999. Many sales start at $5 — combined shipping always available. Questions welcome.
