Rank Barber Coinage
 

In two senses: where I place Barber designs in the pantheon of US
coinage, and by denomination with the Barber coinage, and rank as in
foul, aromatic, disgusting and off-putting.

Try as I might, I have not be able to acquire an appreciation for the
Barber designs of circulating coins. Placing the very similar portraits
of Liberty at her most bland on each denomination was a huge error, IMO.
The reverses are even worse, especially the Eagle, reduced to the
dignity of a chicken and placed in an anatomically improbable stance.

This is a problem, for me. I'm nearing completion on some of the 20th
Century series of the dime, nickel and quarter. The Jefferson and
Roosevelt are more than 90% attained, my Washington Quarters are nearly
filled, I have good starts on the Mercury dimes and an album for my
slowly expanding herd of Bison. The series I have not started by date
and mm are the Franklin, WL, Peace and SLQ. The next logical step in my
backward progression is to begin Barber Coinage acquisition in albums.

Frankly, I dread it. Some I do not despise as much as others, but the
larger the coin, the less I seem to like Barber's work! The nickel is
my 'favorite', I actually like the 'V', followed in descending order by
the dime, quarter and Half. I think the Barber Half is dreadful, simply
unattractive in all aspects. I fulfilled the Half in my type set with a
$7 coin, not even caring to own an AU or MS example.

I can see myself eventually working up an enthusiasm for the nickel (I
like nickels!) and doing the dime from a sense of obligation, thankfully
I have the SLQ between myself and the Barber 25¢ and two series,
Franklin and LW before casting eyes on that Half Dollar.

Is this an uncommon feeling? Do others feel as I do, that Barber ranks
at or near the nadir for US design?

Alan

"Alan & Erin Williams" wrote in message
...
In two senses: where I place Barber designs in the pantheon of US
coinage, and by denomination with the Barber coinage, and rank as in
foul, aromatic, disgusting and off-putting.

Personally, I don't dislike the Barber coins as much as it seems you do. Having said that,
I have no plans to ever start a complete date/mm series of any of them either. I have an
AU58 Barber quarter which I like very much. I'm looking for a comparable half and dime and
that will be it for my Barber purchases. The nickel is another story. I like the nickel
and plan to complete a date set at some point.

--
John

Visit the RCCers favorite coins web page
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jcarne...ns/rccers.html

"Alan & Erin Williams" wrote in message
...
In two senses: where I place Barber designs in the pantheon of US
coinage, and by denomination with the Barber coinage, and rank as in
foul, aromatic, disgusting and off-putting.

Try as I might, I have not be able to acquire an appreciation for the
Barber designs of circulating coins. Placing the very similar portraits
of Liberty at her most bland on each denomination was a huge error, IMO.
The reverses are even worse, especially the Eagle, reduced to the
dignity of a chicken and placed in an anatomically improbable stance.

This is a problem, for me. I'm nearing completion on some of the 20th
Century series of the dime, nickel and quarter. The Jefferson and
Roosevelt are more than 90% attained, my Washington Quarters are nearly
filled, I have good starts on the Mercury dimes and an album for my
slowly expanding herd of Bison. The series I have not started by date
and mm are the Franklin, WL, Peace and SLQ. The next logical step in my
backward progression is to begin Barber Coinage acquisition in albums.

Frankly, I dread it. Some I do not despise as much as others, but the
larger the coin, the less I seem to like Barber's work! The nickel is
my 'favorite', I actually like the 'V', followed in descending order by
the dime, quarter and Half. I think the Barber Half is dreadful, simply
unattractive in all aspects. I fulfilled the Half in my type set with a
$7 coin, not even caring to own an AU or MS example.

I can see myself eventually working up an enthusiasm for the nickel (I
like nickels!) and doing the dime from a sense of obligation, thankfully
I have the SLQ between myself and the Barber 25¢ and two series,
Franklin and LW before casting eyes on that Half Dollar.

Is this an uncommon feeling? Do others feel as I do, that Barber ranks
at or near the nadir for US design?

Alan

I guess I am neither anti-Barber or pro-Barber. I do sense something
different when I hold a Barberian coin as opposed to, say, a Merc dime or a
WL half. With the latter, history does not touch me - I am more caught up
in the beauty and symbolism. When I hold a Barberian coin, with the dates
from the late 19th century and the early 20th century, I tend to get caught
up in history and commerce, thinking about the importance of a half dollar
in those days, who handled the coin, what was happening that year in the
world. It is true, though, I do not look twice at a well worn Barber, VG or
lower. But, I do find I look longer at the Barber coins when there is more
detail. Bill

John Carney wrote:

"Alan & Erin Williams" wrote in message
...
In two senses: where I place Barber designs in the pantheon of US
coinage, and by denomination with the Barber coinage, and rank as in
foul, aromatic, disgusting and off-putting.

Personally, I don't dislike the Barber coins as much as it seems you do. Having said that,
I have no plans to ever start a complete date/mm series of any of them either. I have an
AU58 Barber quarter which I like very much. I'm looking for a comparable half and dime and
that will be it for my Barber purchases. The nickel is another story. I like the nickel
and plan to complete a date set at some point.

It's odd, but I just realized that in my Type Set, the V Nickel is MS,
the Barber Dime is EF (scratched), the Quarter is F and the Half is G
(maybe)! I think that's an effect, not a cause of my feelings.

I wonder if the Liberty nickels *are* the most commonly collected
denomination of Barber? It's the only one I can see myself doing with
any enthusiasm.

Alan
'the bigger the worse'

Alan & Erin Williams wrote:
Is this an uncommon feeling? Do others feel as I do, that Barber ranks
at or near the nadir for US design?

I'm with you. I'm appalled at the whole series. I am only thankful that
there's no "type 1, type 2" business about them -- I can cover it for my
type set with one dime, one quarter, and one half, and be done with it.

--
Bob

Alan & Erin Williams wrote:
Try as I might, I have not be able to acquire an appreciation for the
Barber designs of circulating coins.

Tut tut, my good man. A simple case of one person liking a design that
another doesn't care for, and vice-versa. It's no surprise that we don't all
have the exact same tastes and preferences within the realm of numismatics.
FWIW, when I first became aware of Barber coinage, I fell in love with 'em!
The Barber quarters were the first set that I endeavored to collect, and I
now have 71 of the 74 in the series. I may never get the other three, but I
enjoy looking at the ones I have.

Larry
'To each his own'

I've been working on a Barber dime set
off and on for 20 years or so. I try to get
the fine to very fine grade coin. It is a
real challenge for the quarter and half
dollar too. Low grade Barbers are not
attractive coins (some would say that
about the series whatever the grade) but
I rather like them anyway. The dimes
have the one stopper date for everyone
but the very rich. There are three very
expensive coins with the quarters and the
half dollars have no extremely rare coins,
just a couple of scarce ones. There are
many underrated coins for all three denominations that are harder to get than
the mintages would suggest.

Placing the very similar portraits
of Liberty at her most bland on each denomination was a huge error, IMO.

Ah, but the silver lining to this blunder of Barber blandness was that a
subsequent president was inspired to inaugurate the "golden age" of US coinage!

Regards,
Tom

WinWinscenario wrote:

Placing the very similar portraits
of Liberty at her most bland on each denomination was a huge error, IMO.

Ah, but the silver lining to this blunder of Barber blandness was that a
subsequent president was inspired to inaugurate the "golden age" of US coinage!

Regards,
Tom

Nice alliteration, Tom. ;-)

Alan
'blundering blandness'

Bill Krummel wrote:
=

"Alan & Erin Williams" wrote in message
...
In two senses: where I place Barber designs in the pantheon of US
coinage, and by denomination with the Barber coinage, and rank as in
foul, aromatic, disgusting and off-putting.

Try as I might, I have not be able to acquire an appreciation for the=

Barber designs of circulating coins. Placing the very similar portra=
its
of Liberty at her most bland on each denomination was a huge error, I=
MO.
The reverses are even worse, especially the Eagle, reduced to the
dignity of a chicken and placed in an anatomically improbable stance.=


This is a problem, for me. I'm nearing completion on some of the 20t=
h
Century series of the dime, nickel and quarter. The Jefferson and
Roosevelt are more than 90% attained, my Washington Quarters are near=
ly
filled, I have good starts on the Mercury dimes and an album for my=

slowly expanding herd of Bison. The series I have not started by dat=
e
and mm are the Franklin, WL, Peace and SLQ. The next logical step in=
my
backward progression is to begin Barber Coinage acquisition in albums=
=2E

Frankly, I dread it. Some I do not despise as much as others, but th=
e
larger the coin, the less I seem to like Barber's work! The nickel i=
s
my 'favorite', I actually like the 'V', followed in descending order =
by
the dime, quarter and Half. I think the Barber Half is dreadful, sim=
ply
unattractive in all aspects. I fulfilled the Half in my type set wit=
h a
$7 coin, not even caring to own an AU or MS example.

I can see myself eventually working up an enthusiasm for the nickel (=
I
like nickels!) and doing the dime from a sense of obligation, thankfu=
lly
I have the SLQ between myself and the Barber 25=A2 and two series,
Franklin and LW before casting eyes on that Half Dollar.

Is this an uncommon feeling? Do others feel as I do, that Barber rank=
s
at or near the nadir for US design?

Alan
=

I guess I am neither anti-Barber or pro-Barber. I do sense something
different when I hold a Barberian coin as opposed to, say, a Merc dime =
or a
WL half. With the latter, history does not touch me - I am more caugh=
t up
in the beauty and symbolism. When I hold a Barberian coin, with the da=
tes
from the late 19th century and the early 20th century, I tend to get ca=
ught
up in history and commerce, thinking about the importance of a half dol=
lar
in those days, who handled the coin, what was happening that year in th=
e
world. It is true, though, I do not look twice at a well worn Barber, =
VG or
lower. But, I do find I look longer at the Barber coins when there is =
more
detail. Bill

Me, too. I can get a chill from a sharp photo of a frosty MS Barber
half with maybe a dash of light circumferential toning and a dazzling
center, reminding me of a strong summer sun burning through storm clouds
or that photo of the Arkansas half on the cover of the latest COINValues
magazine. I often break into tears anyway when I notice a particularly
beautiful cloud. I figure that such a coin will always be beyond my
collecting budget, and it amazes me that some have actually survided
over 100 years to still look this way. Low grade circ Barbers do have a
certain je ne sais quoi about them, but to me they're not attractive
enough to ever consider collecting them by date/mint. =


Bruce