Beancounter I

关于此套币: This set was started by Mike Hayes, and has been a work in progress since 1994. A substantial portion of the set was assembled from raw coins obtained by Mike, and submitted to PCGS, at the encouragement of Glenn Holsonbake. From the time the raw dimes were purchased until the time they were submitted to PCGS, the coins resided in a Dansco album. Dansco and the humidity of Florida appear to be a great environment for producing wonderfully toned coins. My goal is to continue adding to the collection with as many well struck, toned dimes as possible.

From a historical perspective the Barber dime is named for its designer, Charles E. Barber, who was the Chief Engraver at the U.S. Mint from 1879-1917. The Barber series was originally intended to be designed by a member of the public, and judged by a committee of four, one of whom was Barber himself. Of the more than 300 submissions, the committee awarded only two of them honorable mentions. Mint Director Edward Leech, a friend of Barber ultimately abandoned the idea of citizen designers and gave Barber the responsibility of developing the new design for the dime, in addition to the quarter, and half-dollar.

The dime features an image of Liberty facing right on the obverse wearing a Phrygian cap associated with emancipation, a laurel wreath with a ribbon, and a headband with the inscription "LIBERTY". The detail of the inscription and the hair below the headband are key factors in determining grade. The reverse contains a laurel wreath with the inscription "ONE DIME" which is almost identical to the design used on the Seated Dime.

The most valuable coin in the Everyman collection is the 1895-O; however it was not the most difficult coin to locate. That honor goes to the 1897-O which was finally located in AU55 on November 8, 2012. The set is AU55 or better without exception, and the list of upgrade coins is now limited to finding eye appealing AU58 coins to replace the remaining coins graded AU55.
Currently the set contains 67 examples that have the AU 58 designation (including the 1893/2 overdate, the 1905 Micro O, a 1909 struck 10% off center, and a 1912-D Broadstruck out of collar, none of which are part of the Everyman Series) and another 11 examples close behind in AU 55.

I believe the AU designation makes this set significantly more challenging than its counterpart in MS. Including the 1893/2 and the 1905 Micro O, PCGS has certified 3,358 Barber dimes in AU. There are fifty four coins in the series with AU populations of less than fifty. MS coins in grades 60-63 currently total 7,062, with the entire PCGS MS population totalling 14,747. There are only eight coins in the series with MS populations less than fifty. Additional support for my argument comes from the Barber Dime Survey conducted by the Barber Coin Collectors' Society. The average rarity rating for AU coins is 2.74 verses 2.58 for MS.

I would also like to say thank you to David Lawrence Rare Coins for allowing me to use selective information from "The Complete Guide to Certified Barber Coinage" as part of my comments for many dates and mints. This book is a great source of information for any Barber enthusiast and demonstrates their committment to the Barber collector. The publications are readily available online at no charge.