1906-D 50C MS65 Certification #25093158, PCGS #6505

Wanted: Upgrade to MS66 - - - - - Type: Barber Half Dollar Designer: Charles E. Barber Content: 90% Silver, 10% Copper Weight: 12.50 grams Diameter: 30.00 millimeters Edge: Reeded Mint: Denver Production Strikes: 4,028,000 General Type Description: In 1892 the half dollar was redesigned to the so-called Barber type. Designer Charles E. Barber’s Miss Liberty now faces right, her hair is in a Phrygian cap, and a wreath of laurel encircles her head. The word LIBERTY appears on a small band or ribbon above her forehead. IN GOD WE TRUST is above, six stars are to the left, seven stars are to the right, and the date is below. The reverse is an adaptation of the Great Seal of the United States and features a heraldic eagle grasping an olive branch and arrows and holding in its beak a ribbon inscribed E PLURIBUS UNUM. A galaxy of stars is above. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and HALF DOLLAR surround. The same head of Miss Liberty appears on dimes and quarters of the era. Mintage was continuous at the Philadelphia and San Francisco Mints from 1892 through 1915, with additional pieces supplied from New Orleans through 1909 and from Denver beginning in 1906. Unlike the Barber Quarter series, which has some genuinely tough coins, there are no significant rarities in the Barber Half series. The type set collector will encounter no difficulty in acquiring specimens in grades of Good or Very Good. Fine pieces, believe it or not, are scarce. Very Fine coins are very scarce and Extremely Fine coins can be called rare in the context of modern issues. AU coins are rarer yet, Uncirculated pieces are still more rare, and superb Uncirculated pieces are very rare. One of the reason for the scarcity of high grade circulated pieces, is once the coins entered circulation, they tended to remain there many years, and the few XFs and AUs that remained, were often “enhanced” in the 1960s and 1970s and sold as Uncs. (Source: Bowers, W. David. “United States Coins by Design Types - An Action Guide for the Collector and Investor”. Edited and updated by Mike Sherman, PCGS CoinFacts) Specific Issue Description: Although not really a rare issue, the 1906-D is surprisingly difficult to locate in … full Gem condition… and, in my opinion, Gems of this issue are very underrated and undervalued. Comparing it to the other Barber Half Dollar issues of 1906, the 1906-D is considerably more rare with respect to population rarity than the 1906 P Mint issue, but, of course, it does not rival the overall rarity of the 1906-O and 1906-S… However, at the Gem level, the 1906-D is equal in rarity to the 1906 and is only a little less rare than the 1906-O and 1906-S, a fact that may have escaped the notice of all but the serious student of the series. (Source: Akers, David. PCGS CoinFacts) Exemplar Notes: Acquired 10/2012 from Great Southern Coins Numismatics.

Ron Guth

Time for a fresh analysis of the 1906-D Half Dollar.  David Akers wrote that the 1906-D was "considerably more rare with respect to population rarity than the 1906 P Mint issue" but more recent population data puts them almost equal in the number of coins certified of each date, with the 1906-P only slightly more plentiful in Mint State grades.  Both the 1906-P and the 1906-D are approximately twice as common as the 1906-O and 1906-S.  The real rarity of the four dates is the 1906-O, which has the smallest overall population in Mint State.  However, the true condition-rarity of this group turns out to be the 1906-D, which has the fewest number of coins graded MS67 or better.

The single finest example of the 1906-D Half Dollar is a PCGS MS67 that sold in 2015 as part of the Eugene Garnder Collection for a record $47,000.

---

David Akers

Although not really a rare issue, the 1906-D is surprisingly difficult to locate in...full Gem condition...and, in my opinion, Gems of this issue are very underrated and undervalued. Comparing it to the other Barber Half Dollar issues of 1906, the 1906-D is considerably more rare with respect to population rarity than the 1906 P Mint issue, but, of course, it does not rival the overall rarity of the 1906-O and 1906-S... However, at the Gem level, the 1906-D is equal in rarity to the 1906 and is only a little less rare than the 1906-O and 1906-S, a fact that may have escaped the notice of all but the serious student of the series.