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we mentioned will still bring one in, but
the grade will be in something like the
VF-20 zone. Not a terrible coin, but one
with some wear on it.
At this point, a lot of collectors call
a halt when putting together some type
set of big silver, thinking that everything
before this will be grossly expensive.
And while, yes, our earliest half dollars
do cost a lot, there are two further addi-
tions we can make to our growing type
set. First, one of the Seated Liberty half
dollars of the 1870’s, a time during
which millions were produced each
year, is not going to be too expensive.
The 1877 for example saw more than
8 million produced at the main Mint in
Philadelphia. An EF-40 specimen costs
only about $150 today. That’s very
good for an attractive piece with more
than 140 years of history. And believe
it or not, several of the Capped Bust
half dollars issued from 1832 to 1836
were issued in large enough numbers
that they cost less than $200 today in a
decent grade. Both of these early fifty-
cent pieces could be real winners in any
type set.
This 1921 PeaceDollargradedMS66by
PCGSis struckinhighrelief,“theonlysilver
dollartohavebeensoproduced.”Images Courtesy of Heritage Auctions
Second, The Silver Dollars
When collectors think of big silver,
we think of silver dollars. Thus, this
is the other logical place at which
to consider assembling some type of
proof set. Looking back through here
might be interesting indeed.
To begin with, unlike the half
dollars, our dollar coin has been
through all sorts of changes in the past
fifty years. We’re going to ignore all
the Presidential dollars, the Sacagawea
dollars, and even the Susan B. Anthony
dollars, with apologies to all serious
collectors of them. This is because
they are not silver. Nope, not a bit.
We’ll start with the Eisenhower dollars,
because these at least exist in a silver
version that was marketed to collec-
tors. Since none of them saw any circu-
lation, all of them are quite inexpensive
today. Something like $50 can net a
piece in a grade as high as PF-69 with
a deep cameo finish.
For the hard core collectors of clas-
sics among us, the start point for a silver
dollar collection is not General, then
President, then Eisenhower. It’s Lady
Liberty on the Peace dollars. Issued
from 1921 to 1928, then again for two
years in 1934 and 1935, there are plenty
of mint state Peace dollars available.
The high end grades of mint state can
definitely be expensive, but for the most
common dates in the series, from 1922 to
1925, grades such as MS-65 are possible
purchases at no more than $150 each.
That’s going to be one dazzling coin fora pretty dazzling price.
There’s no way to look at the span
of U.S. silver dollars and not find the
Morgan dollars as one of the big dogs
in the arena. They were issued from
five different Mints, often in large
numbers, and have largely survived
in great shape, since so many simply
sat around in government vaults for
decades. Some of the older common
dates can be found in grades as high as
MS-66 for only $300. Neither of those
numbers are typos – that’s the blazing
MS-66 grade, at a price as low as $300.
Not bad at all.
Moving backwards in the different
series of silver dollars gets us to two
coins that are beautiful, but that can
be costly. So, approaching warily, we
first come to the Trade dollars, issued
for circulation from 1873 to 1878.
There are no mint state coins anywhere
in this series with prices like we just
mentioned. However, some of theThis 1921 PeaceDollargradedMS 66 by
common dates and mint marks can be
hauled in for about $250. The 1877-S,
for example, saw a mintage of over 9.
million coins. While mint state versions
of it are costly, that just-mentioned $
will get us an EF-40 piece. That’s still
going to be a coin with some eye appeal.
Going back to the Seated Liberty
dollar, we arrive at a series that was
produced for quite a while, but that has
very few dates we might call common
today. The end result is a long list of
rather expensive coins. Yet in that line
up are the 1871 and the 1872, both
produced to the tune of just over one
million coins. Mint state examples will
cost over $1K, but examples in a grade
like VF-20 run only about $450. That’s
not pocket change, but it’s still a coin
we can save up for. It will also most
likely be the earliest silver dollar we
can add to a type set, since those made
between 1794 and 1803 all pretty much
qualify as furiously expensive.
All things considered, type sets of
U.S. half dollars and silver dollars can be
fun challenges. It appears there are still
some great coins out there for equally
great prices.Shown is a First Class 1900 Barber Half
MS67, Sole Example so graded at PCGS.
It is described as having “ivory toning
at the center, with a frame of rose, lilac,
blue, and green.”Images Courtesy of Heritage Auctions