Affordable Proofs Among Barber Dimes
Afew years ago we took a look at the Barber dime series, and found that there were some bargains within it, salted among the regular issues in what might be called the higher circulated grades. But we didn’t look in any detail at the limited number of proofs that were issued within this series of classic United States silver. Let’s focus our collecting lens a bit and see if there might indeed be some bargains among these little silver guys.
As we get going here and look to what we usually do – our price point and determination of what is common – we need to note one piece in particular. Yes, we should pay that almost obligatory nod to the well-known, insanely rare 1894- S proof, only 24 of which were listed as being officially produced. The nod is this: it’s so expensive that none of us will ever be able to afford one, even if one were to come up for auction. Even if we were sleeping on a bed of money. Even if we were King Midas (okay, maybe if we were King Midas). Let’s move on to the other proofs in this series.
In 1892, the first year of issue, there were 1,245 proof Barber dimes minted. That is the high point of what we might consider a proof coin program which was tiny throughout all the years in which the Barber coins were made. The low point or points came towards the end of the series, in 1914 and 1915. The 1914 proof count for these 10-cent pieces was only 425. In 1915 it was 450, not much different. In the years in between, the number seems to have fluctuated for the most part between 700 and 900 with a few lower years. Overall, these are incredibly rare coins.
Now when it comes to prices, we can be excused for thinking that the cost for any of these little gems is going to be sky high. After all, key dates to numerous United States coinage series are often much higher than the numbers we just quoted. So it might be surprising to find that just about any of these little beauties will start at about $500 in a grade like PF-63.
To couple the prices and mintages, and put some sort of perspective in place here, let’s do a bit of math using the screaming rarity of the 1894- S as one of our points. Here we go: the 1894- S is 52 times less common than the 1892 proof. One of the 1894- S pieces sold for $1.32-million in the last ten years, a low point among such sales, actually. If we take 1/52 of that colossal number, we could imagine our 1892 proof will cost a bit over $25,000. Yet it is listed as about $550. What gives?
OK, while comparisons like this are fun to do, there is something of a flaw in their logic. The flaw is that the 1894 is incredibly well-known among the collector community and would have to be acquired if we were to say we had the entire set of Barber dimes. On the flip side of things, the proofs of 1892 – or any of the other years for that matter – are definitely not needed for a complete set. Any one of them will without a doubt become a crown jewel in some collection of dimes. But they are not required for completion.
We’ll leave the argument about defining completion for a moment, and simply look up and down the proofs column of any of the standard online or print references to see just what proof Barber dimes generally cost. Even a quick glance lets us see that whether the quantity is high or low, virtually all of the proof Barber dimes cost about the same. Something like $500 is enough to ante up, and sit at the table, as it were. This fact means something, and that is that very few people are collecting proof Barber dimes. It’s probably fair to say that when such a coin becomes available, and when the price is right, many of us would go for one. We can make that a type coin, or a prize among a larger collection. But an entire string of these 10-centers as proofs is most likely not a goal.
In many of the former Bargain Collector columns we like to find a price point of about $100 per coin. It’s a number that is high enough to have some clout, yet low enough that it is considered affordable. Perhaps obviously, this is not going to be the case with any of these little proofs. Curiously though, even the $500 price we just quoted can be undercut in some way, especially if we get cozy with the never-closing trade-o-rama that is eBay. The offerings change just about daily, but a recent look through what was for sale showed a 1912 PF-64 cameo Barber dime with an ask price of $330. That’s quite an improvement for a proof that already costs far less than what we might expect.
It’s always tough to claim that any proof coin is a bargain when we have to spend at least $500 to add one to our collection. But in the case of the 10-cent pieces designed by Mr. Barber, it appears that the entire run of proofs may be seriously undervalued. That’s food for thought if we wish to dive deep into a classic United States silver series that some collectors may be overlooking.