1905-O 50C Barber Half Dollar PCGS MS64 (CAC)

1905-O 50C Barber Half Dollar PCGS MS64 (CAC)

      It is with pleasure that we at AUCM offer for your consideration a PQ (Premium Quality) example of an issue that David Akers tells us is "poorly struck, often with mumps, and generally [has] substandard luster." However, the piece presented by AUCM is a stunner, with attractive luster and patina. Akers also writes, "The 1905-O is one of the lowest mintage issues in the series; in fact, among all of the branch mint Barber Half Dollar issues, only the 1892-O had a lower mintage." Since it is offered at a price that will not break the bank, it would be an excellent piece to include in a type set of mint state half dollars.

      President Theodore Roosevelt said that the coinage of Charles E. Barber was "artistically of atrocious hideousness," and Barber coinage has seen much criticism over the years; however, many sophisticated collectors enjoy the oft maligned designs. Barber has a champion in numismatic scholar and art critic Cornelius Vermeule, who writes that, "...Liberty's cap, incised diadem, and wreath of laurel were designed to echo all the depth and volume of her Olympian countenance. The classical substances are offset, almost literally, by the sharply rectangular dentils of the raised rim and the strength of 13 six-pointed stars. On the [reverse] ... an equal constellation of stars ... is clustered above the eagle's shaggy, craggy profile. On both sides the simple dignity of motto, legend, and denomination binds the pictorialism into a cohesive tondo. The wealth of irregular surfaces and sharp angles is an almost electrifying aesthetic experience. ... specimens [are] a pleasure to contemplate. The sculptor was unsurpassed in the mechanics of creating a durable design of monumental validity."