1907-S Barber Half Dollar

The story of the 1907-S

Output at San Francisco slipped to 1,250,000 in 1907, from 1.7 million the year before. In 1908 the figure was 1.6 million.

1907 came to 2.6 million and 1907-D came to 3.9 million and 1907-O came to 3.9 million, so neither mint's 1907 coin is much scarcer than the other. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1911-S (1,272,000) and the 1915-D (1,170,400).

Across San Francisco's 24 Barber Half Dollar issues, the hardest to find is the 1904-S with 553,038 made. The 1907-S is on the scarcer side of the middle. Within the 1900s it's 8th smallest of 33, between the 1901-O (1.1 million) and the 1908 (1.4 million).

Four mints and the end at New Orleans (1906 to 1909)

Denver struck its first half dollars in 1906, 4,028,000 of them. For four years all four mints made halves, the only time that happened in the Barber series. New Orleans struck 5,360,000 in 1908 and then 925,400 in 1909, its final half dollars before the mint stopped coining. San Francisco and Philadelphia each struck between about 1.25 and 2.64 million a year.

With so many mints working, the coins of these years are among the easiest Barber halves to find. They make a good starting point for a mint mark set because every coin of 1906 to 1908 is available in moderate grades. The 1909-O is the scarcest of the period. Mint marks sit just below the eagle's tail and are small, so a loupe helps when reading them on worn coins.

Elsewhere in US coinage in 1907

Augustus Saint-Gaudens' double eagle and Indian Head eagle replaced the Liberty Head designs. The first double eagles were struck in very high relief, which required several blows of the press, so the relief was lowered later in the year. President Theodore Roosevelt had the motto "In God We Trust" left off both coins.