Lot 2598
1907 Barber Half Dollar. NGC graded Proof 67 Cameo. Fully white gem. A satiny frosted head surrounded by untoned mirror-bright fields makes for a strikingly beautiful example of this Barber Proof, the reverse as well as the obverse bright and glinting. Crisply struck and problem-free. A superb specimen for the collector. Pop 3; 2 finer; 1 in 67*; 1 in 68.
Charles E. Barber's half dollar began as a mirror-image copy of the Morgan dollar head, though cropped off most of Miss Anna Willess Williams's hair and concealed the rest within an enlarged cap. Barber also removed the assorted vegetable matter from the brim of the cap (retaining the word LIBERTY), replacing the various stalks with a simple laurel wreath, placing IN GOD WE TRUST above.
For the reverse, Barber improved on Robert Scot's work of 91 years earlier by refashioning the Great Seal of the United States. His earlier patterns (dated 1891, Judd 1766, 1765, 1764, 1762) retained the clouds above eagle; his final design (as seen here) dropped them, reducing an otherwise crowded effect to tolerable levels.
Estimated Value $4,500 - 5,000.
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