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- Product ID: 20300
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The 1904 Barber Half Dollar has a pretty average mintage and can be accessed in most grades for decent premiums. Securely packaged in a coin sleeve, the highly collectible 1904 Barber Half Dollar will be protected while in transit. Due to its 90% silver content, many collectors flock to the Barber Half Dollar collection since most of its mintages are pretty impressive. The Philadelphia Mint was the first mint to be established in the US so it doesn't mark its coins with a mint-mark. The US desperately needed an identity but also a means to international commerce so the Founding Fathers decided that a national mint was the answer. The Mint Act officially announced the opening of the Philadelphia Mint and also instituted guidelines for the newly minted currency. A dollar decimal system would be used to assign the currency with legal tender values. Also, an emblematic symbol of liberty must be included on US currency, hence why so many adaptations of Liberty have been used.
Not every US Mint Chief Engraver has left his or her mark on US coin history. In fact, if you are lucky enough to be in the position when a new design is needed, than you were just handed the lottery. William Barber is one of the engravers, whose name will go down in history because of his design. The Barber design was named after the US Mint's Chief Engraver, William Barber and was received with mixed emotions and would be replaced in 1916. The coins were in circulation from 1892-1916, but the half dollar wasn't minted the last couple of years before the series ended. The Seated Liberty design had run its course and the Mint's Director, Edward Leech, wanted to officially change the design. Holding a competition, Leech wanted to encourage participation by giving the winner a cash prize. All of the local artists invited declined and Leech resorted to his mint for direction.