Third Finest 1900-S Barber 50c
Solidly in the Gem category, this 1900-S retains its full original satiny luster under faint shades of pale blue and soft yellow. The toning includes some speckling away from the centers, although not enough to be bothersome. The strike lacks some detail in the obverse leaves and on the upper right shield point, typical for this issue. A group of shallow abrasions on Liberty’s upper cheek set the grade.
In his catalogue of the Dr. Thaine B. Price Collection, May 1998, David Akers wrote of this issue:
The 1900-S is one of the unheralded rarities of the Barber Half Dollar series. It actually ranks in the top 20% of the series in terms of overall mint state rarity and Gems are especially elusive, very similar actually to Gems of the 1900-O issue.
David Akers, 1998
This is the clear third finest 1900-S 50c behind the Price – Duckor PCGS/CAC MS67+ #16398777 now in the D.L. Hansen collection, and the Eliasberg – Gardner PCGS MS67 #38293374. David Akers also considered the Price and Eliasberg 1900-S Halves to be among the top coins in existence, although he seemed to favor the Eliasberg specimen as the finest known.
PCGS #36340256
Provenance
RARCOA, May 1973, lot 420; David Queller; Stack’s “The Queller Family Collection of United States Half Dollars 1794 – 1963”, October 2002, lot 765 at $14,375 to Joe O’Connor (OCNUMIS); privately June 2003 to Eugene Gardner; Heritage Auctions “Eugene H. Gardner Collection, Part IV”, October 2015 at $14,100 as PCGS/CAC MS66 #60052838 to Joe O’Connor (OCNUMIS); later privately January 2019 to Dennis Jones; Heritage Auctions, April 2020, lot 3538 at $12,600 as PCGS/CAC MS66+ #36340256 to Joe O’Connor (OCNUMIS).
