-
Inventory:
18 In Stock
- Product ID: 18818
Checkout
The 1912-D Barber Dime has a high mintage, with over 19 million produced by the Denver Mint. The 1912-D is in very fine condition, exhibiting a healthy amount of wear on both sides of the coin, with the main image details lacking, such as Liberty's headpiece detailing. Only established in 1906, the Denver Mint mainly focused on commemorative coins but also participated in the Barber coinage production. 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.
The Barber design was named after the US Mint's Chief Engraver, William Barber. 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. William Barber was ultimately assigned the task to create a new design for the US currency, that would replace the Seated Liberty. The new design was received with mixed emotions and would be replaced in 1916. The Barber design lasted much longer in circulation after Barber passed away and was succeeded by his son, Charles.