Barber Dime Alert !!

The 1894-S Barber Dime


Two recent sales of an already legendary coin have only added to its status. The 1894-S Barber Dime is among the most rare and desirable of American coins. This August, an example certified as Proof 66 traded for 1.9 million dollars in a private transaction. Then this October, Stack’s sold another example graded as Proof 64 at public auction for over 1.5 million dollars.


Images courtesy of Stack’s Rare Coins
In the most recent transaction involving what is arguably the most famous dime, this example of the 1894-S Barber Dime sold for over 1.5 million dollars.

It is stated in the Twenty-third Annual Report of the Director of the Mint (1895) that 24 of these coins were struck. According to one of the better known accounts regarding their origin and distribution, three were retained by the Superintendent of the San Francisco Mint John Daggett. The others were said to have been distributed among the Superintendent’s friends in the banking community who requested their manufacture. Daggett gave his dimes to his daughter Hallie who sold two examples in 1954. Popular accounts suggest the young Miss Daggett had spent the third example entrusted to her care on a dish of ice cream on her way home.
Nine examples are known to exist today. Most, but not all, numismatists consider these pieces branch mint proofs. While two of the survivors show extensive circulation (including the “Ice Cream” specimen), the others clearly display surfaces that would suggest special care was taken at the time of their manufacture. In the end, the debate over their status is largely a matter of semantics; whether a proof, specimen or a deep mirror prooflike striking from new dies, an 1894-S dime is an 1894-S dime.
Authentication involves tracing a piece’s pedigree to one of the nine known examples. A previously unknown specimen hasn’t come to light in several decades. In fact careful research of pedigrees reduced the population to the current figure from estimates as high as 13 examples. However, clever (and some not so clever) forgeries make an occasional appearance. The discovery of another genuine example would be a landmark event. Authentication would require several expert opinions, much like the activity surrounding the Walton specimen of the 1913 Liberty Head Nickel or the recently unearthed 1817/4 Bust Half Dollar.