1897-S 50C VF35 Certification #28282607, PCGS #6479

Ron Guth

The 1897-S Half Dollar is one of the tougher dates of the 1890's.  It is not as rare as the 1897-O or the 1898-S, but it is also far less common than the majority of the dates in the series.  Our experts ranked it 19th rarest overall out of all the Barber Half Dollar dates.  In MS65 and better grades, the 1897-S is 16th rarest overall.  These are still rather impressive credentials even if the 1897-S is not the superstar it was once considered to be.  

One of the benefits of third-party grading is that it gives us a fairly objective view of relative rarity and how difficult coins are to find in certain grades.  In the pre-third party grading era, determinations of rarity were driven by personal experience, anecdotal evidence, seller bias, and pure guesswork.  The new information gleaned from population reports is a double-edged sword: some coins have risen in stature and others have been diminished.  Nevertheless, the 1897-S is a remarkable date that still commands a lot of respect today.

Virtually all 1897-S Half Dollars are struck well.  If there is ever any weakness, it will be on the upper right shield point and the adjacent feathers.

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David Akers

At one time, the 1897-S Barber Half Dollar was considered to be one of the most important rarities of the series, roughly comparable to the 1897-O, the 1896-S and the 1896-O. Over the years, however, our perceptions of rarity have changed and, of course, more information is now available as to the relative rarity of the various issues in the series. With this new information, it is now clear that the 1897-S is considerably more rare in Gem condition than the 1897-O, but not quite as rare as either of the two mintmarked 1896 issues. Although not quite in the upper echelon of Barber Half Dollar issues with respect to condition rarity, the 1897-S still must be considered very rare in Gem condition in an absolute sense. Furthermore, I would stress here that virtually every Barber Half Dollar, excepting only a handful of issues, is at least rare in Gem condition, and at the superb, virtually flawless quality level..., even the most common date Barber Half Dollar can be considered a major rarity since other than the 1908-O and 1892, no more than one or two examples exist of almost any issue.