[The following excerpt is published courtesy of DLRC Press and its author, David Lawrence This information was originally published in 1991 in The Complete Guide to Barber Dimes]
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FOREWORD
This is the second book in the Barber series. “The Complete Guide to Barber Quarters” was published in October 1989. In the quarter book I relied heavily on line drawings and paid particular attention to mint-mark positions. In this book I have gone completely to photographs, almost all taken by Tom Mulvaney, a professional numismatic photographer. Thanks to Tom’s expertise, I believe you will find this book easy to use as a reference guide.
The Barber Dime series is a challenging one. Except for the 1894-S, which is truly rare, you can assemble the set in almost any grade from About Good to Mint State 65. But you won’t find it easy if the coins are better than Very Good, and it is not unusual for a collector to invest five to eight years on the set. Fortunately for the next collector, such a set is sometimes offered for sale upon completion. Otherwise many of the dates would never become available.
Barbers have become very popular in the last two years — the Barber Coin Collectors’ Society formed in 1989 has more than 500 members, and investors have been attracted to the low populations of mint-state coins.
I was encouraged by the response to the Barber Quarter book and hope this book also will further Interest in this beautiful and intriguing series.
DAVE LAWRENCE
January, l991