1906-S 50C MS68+ Certification #19806533, PCGS #6507

CAC. Laibstain. Hugon coin and formerly NGC 69 as the only mint state barber half to reach that grade at either major service. We still have the NGC 69 insert tag as a souvenir. This is an absolutely amazing coin! Quite possibly this coin is from the Emery-Nichols collection, based upon my research. Any MS 68 Barber Half is noteworthy, as there are only 11 or 12 known for the entire series in PCGS holders. The only coin in the series currently graded higher by PCGS is the 1905 that was in the Steve Duckor collection and attained MS 68+ (I have seen that coin and it is magnificent and deserves the high grade designation!). Some experts consider this 1906-S half to be as nice as the 1905 half just mentioned, but if not, this 1906-S half may well be the second finest mint state Barber half in existence. It is mentioned in the forward of the John Feigenbaum book on certified Barber coinage, by Mark Salzberg, as a very noteworthy and outstanding coin he remembers from the many thousands of mint state Barber coins he has seen and graded. Our coin is outstanding in quality and historically is interesting for marking the year and site of the San Francisco earthquake. It was featured, out of a multitude of high-quality mint state and proof Barber coins, as the coin featured on the cover of the Heritage auction catalog for the John Hugon Collection. The colors and toning are gorgeous and the underlying luster is superb, and virtually no marks are to be seen. It is the finest known 1906-S half dollar. It is arguably one of the top 10 finest quality mint state Barber half dollars extant. If indeed from the Emery-Nichols collection, the pedigree is top-notch.

Ron Guth

The 1906-S Half Dollar is semi-scarce at best and is readily available in most Mint State grades, especially MS64.  MS65 and better examples appear on the market once or twice a year and bring competetive prices.  This is one of only ten dates in the series which are represented by an MS68 example.  The last appearance of this colorful coin was in early 2016 when it sold for a record pirce (for the date) of $82,250.  

The strike quality of 1906-S Half Dollars is generally quite good, though a few examples show weakness on the upper right shield and adjacent wings.

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David Akers

This is a very scarce issue in any mint state grade, although specimens below the Gem level can be located with only moderate difficulty. Accurately graded Gems, however, are very rare, although not quite as much so as the other S Mint issues from 1900-1908. Still, one could easily spend a year or more looking for [a] Gem quality 1906-S Half Dollar.