-
Inventory:
9 In Stock
- Product ID: 20388
Checkout
Every Mint Director has experience a lull in production, wherein the design for a coin becomes tiresome. When the Seated Liberty Half Dollar had been issued for awhile, the Mint Director Edward Leech, wanted to hold a competition for the next coinage design. Adding the appeal of a cash prize for the winner, the local turnout was a bit underwhelming. The artists that were invited to participate wanted a different prize, under different terms, and withdrew when their needs weren't met. Leech resorted to inside the mint, wherein he worked with the Chief Engraver at the time, to construct a new design. The Chief Engraver, William Barber, was approved by president, Benjamin Harrison, to move forward with the Barber coinage.
With a pretty high mintage, the 1908-D Barber Half Dollar is in fine condition and is easily accessible in all conditions for low premiums. Collectors expect fine condition to contain a very worn surface, with less intricate details, such as the leaves detailing on Liberty's headpiece. The 1908-D Barber Half Dollar features the "D" mint-mark, indicating it was minted at the Denver Mint. Only established in 1906, the Denver Mint mainly focused on commemorative coins but also participated in the Barber Half Dollar production. Compared to the other US Mint branches, the Denver Mint was young when it started producing silver dollars. In 1921, the Denver joined forces with its sister branches to help produce the Morgan silver dollar, that was soon changed to the Peace silver dollar. Since the Denver Mint was established much later than the other mints, its participation in major coin collections was limited causing collectors to put any silver coin with a "D" mint-mark at the top of their collecting list.