1897-O Barber Half Dollar. MS-65+ (NGC). A sparkling pale champagne beauty with bold cartwheel activity and exceptional eye appeal. Nicely struck for a New Orleans Mint half dollar of this type with nearly complete details in all quarters. An altogether pleasing example of this desirable key date issue, one that will certainly see considerable bidding support. The 1897-O is a lower mintage Barber half dollar with 632,000 pieces produced, and survivors are scarce to rare in all Mint State grades. Premium Gems such as this are decidedly in the latter category and seldom appear on the open market. From the Dazzling Rarities Collection. Earlier from Heritages sale of the Southwest Collection, February 2008 Long Beach Signature Auction, lot 660; Heritages sale of the Joseph C. Thomas Collection, April-May 2009 CSNS Coin Auction, lot 799; our New York Americana Sale of January 2011, lot 4735; Heritages CSNS Signature Auction of April-May 2016, lot 3573.
