US Barber Quarter Dollar and Half Dollar 1892 to 1915

The design of Charles Barber dominated US coins around the turn of the 19th century. His depiction of Miss Liberty and heraldic eagle design appears on quarters and half dollars of the period. These coins are highly sought by collectors, especially specimens that are in good condition.

Assigning values to Barber quarters and halves is complicated. It involves four topics:

- Silver value, base value, or bullion value (BV)
- Numismatic grading: FR-2, G-4, and VF-20
- Common date coins
- Better date coins

Silver value, base value, or bullion value (BV) - Coins that are severely worn or damaged will only be worth their silver content.

BARBER QUARTER: 0.181 troy ounces silver
BARBER HALF: 0.362 troy ounces silver

By looking up the current value of silver on a site like kitco.com, we can find the coin's value by multiplying the silver content by the price of silver. For instance, if silver is selling at $20 US dollars per troy ounce, the base silver value (BV) of a Barber half is BV = 0.362 x $20 = about $7 US dollars. The coin can never be worth less than BV. Be sure to look up the current price of silver. It changes every day.

Numismatic grading: FR-2, G-4, and VF-20 - At CoinQuest we generally avoid the slippery subject of coin grading. It is the joy, and the horror, of coin collecting. For Barber coinage, the values are extremely dependent on numismatic grade, so we cannot skirt around the issue. For our purposes here, there are three grades that are important:

FR-2: Fair, worse than CoinQuest's worn condition
G-4: Good, equivalent to CoinQuest's worn condition
VF-20: Very Fine, equivalet to CoinQuest's average circulated condition

In the three images above, pay close attention to the amount of detail in Miss Liberty's leaf crown and in the stars that encircle her. Lots of detail means you have a VF-20, or average circulated, coin, and all Barber coinage in VF or better is valuable. To qualify for VF grade, all letters in the LIBERTY headband must be plain and even.

Coins with lower grades, FR-2 and G-4, are worth much less than VF coins. Of course, if you can find an example grading better than VF, you have a very valuable coin.

Our favorite online resource for grading US coins is CoinAuctionsHelp.

Common date coins - The listings below give approximate catalog values for most Barber quarters and halves. More valuable, 'better date' coins appear next on this page.

BARBER QUARTERS, COMMON DATES:
worn: $8 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $45
well preserved: $90
fully uncirculated: $350

BARBER HALVES, COMMON DATES:
worn: $15 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $100
well preserved: $200
fully uncirculated: $600

Check below to see if you have a 'better date' coin. Be sure you understand what 'catalog' means. Read our Terminology page.

Better date coins - In addition to the common date coins outlined above, there are also 'better date' coins. Some coins, to qualify as 'better date,' must have 'O' or 'S' mint marks as shown in the image to the right.

In the lists below, values after the date and mint mark give approximate catalog value for coins in average circulated VF-20 condition. Coins with more wear are worth much less than the values shown, and coins with less wear are worth much more. Problems, such as scratches, spots, stains, cleanings, nicks, gouges, and similar damage will render the coin back to its base silver value, BV.

BETTER DATE BARBER QUARTERS
1892S: $100 approximate catalog value in average circulated condition
1893S: $100
1895S: $100
1896S: $3000
1896O: $280
1897O: $280
1897S: $420
1901O: $180
1901S: $10000
1913S: $6500
1914S: $420

BETTER DATE BARBER HALF DOLLARS:
1892O: $600 approximate catalog value in average circulated condition
1892S: $500
1893: $150
1893O: $250
1893S: $450
1894: $200
1894O: $200
1894S: $150
1895: $150 (cannot have mint mark)
1895O: $200
1895S: $230
1896: $175 (cannot have mint mark)
1896S: $400
1897O: $750
1897S: $600
1898O: $400
1898S: $175
1900O: $175
1901O: $250
1901S: $400
1902S: $175
1903O: $150
1903S: $150
1904O: $250
1904S: $800
1905: $300 (cannot have mint mark)
1905O: $250
1905S: $150
1907S: $240
1908S: $150
1909O: $150
1910: $200 (cannot have mint mark)
1913: $450 (cannot have mint mark)
1913S: $150
1914: $550 (cannot have mint mark)
1915: $400 (cannot have mint mark)
cqLastNotify