Barber Halves > Chapter 1 > Error Coinage

[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 Halves

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Error Coinage

All major errors of Barber halves are very scarce. Shown here are two of the more spectacular ones. The first, a full brockage half from the San Francisco Mint (shown at right), is believed to be unique. The coin has no obverse. In its place is an incuse mirror-Image of the reverse because the reverse of another coin acted as the die. This half was purchased by Oregon coin dealer Steve Estes in 1972 at Lyle Clark in San Diego. It had been received in change by a teller at Caliente Race Track in Tijuana, Mexico in 1926. Bets were 50 cents at that time and supposedly it was the bettors last half dollar, taken from a special place in his wallet. The teller was nearly 90 when he sold it to Steve and had kept it in a small leather pouch for the 46 years. The coin was sold to dealer Harlan White in 1976 as part of a large deal and has since passed through a number of hands (including the author’s.) It is currently owned by Sharon and Jerry Bobbe, professional numismatists from Oregon, who vow they “will never sell it” The Bobbes kindly lent the coin to be photographed.

The photo (below) of the off-center half is provided courtesy of COIN WORLD Collectors’ Clearinghouse. It appeared in their July 17, 1987, issue and subsequently in the Spring 1991 journal of the BCCS. Off-center Barber dimes and quarters are sometimes offered on the bourse floor, but halves are rarely seen.

Normal Reverse of Brockage Half   /  Incuse, Mirror-Image Reverse of Brockage Half

Barber Half Dollar Struck Off-center