J-1524 1877 Half Dollar. J-1524 1877 50C PCGS PR63. R7. This lustrous proof pattern 1877 Half Dollar has clean surfaces and lovely toning. Shades of blue-gray predominate but are highlighted with gold. The colors attest to the coins originality. For the grade, the surfaces are clean and free of visible hairlines. The coin is well struck with full details on Libertys hair, the centers of the stars, the eagles breast, and the peripheral elements of the reverse.

The J-1524 was also struck in copper. Designed by William Barber, and known as Barbers Liberty Head with Broad Band, the obverse shows a left facing head of Liberty in profile, wearing a cap. The cap is encircled with a broad band that is inscribed LIBERTY using incused letters. It is ornamented with wheat and cotton. Below the neck is B for Barber with the date below the truncation. The reverse was also designed by William Barber and is called Barbers Eagle in front of Shield. It shows a small eagle perched in front of a shield. Around the shield is a broad, ornamented band. The ornaments include scrollwork and dots that are divided into four sections. The motto IN GOD WE TRUST is in the top two sections, and E PLURIBUS UNUM is in the bottom two. Both mottos are in upper case Gothic lettering. Surrounding the whole is the inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA             with the denomination HALF DOLLAR below.

William Barber was born in England, married and came to the United States as an adult. He was the son of an engraver and had apprenticed to his father in the early years in England. Among other things he learned typesetting for cards and labels and fine silver engraving. He settled in Boston in September 1852 and worked for Gorham & Company, manufacturers of silver and gold jewelry. Barber was responsible for die making and pattern design for Gorhams trade medals and commemoratives. Eventually, as the Civil War was ending, James B. Longacre, Chief Engraver at the Mint, hired Barber as an assistant in 1865. Barber moved to Philadelphia and began designing patterns and medals for the Mint. One of his most famous medals was the one celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Americas Independence. When Longacre died in 1869, Barber became the fifth Chief Engraver at the Mint. He earned $3,000 per year in salary and held the position until his death in 1879. When he became the Chief Engraver, he immediately hired his unproven son, Charles to be an assistant engraver. This hiring was an example of the kind of patronage that Longacre had tried to eliminate.

William Barber was renowned for his pattern work and for the production of over forty medals. The dies and prototypes for these works were repeated many times over with slight modifications. One of Barbers most famous works was the Amazonian Seated Liberty quarter. In total, Barbers body of work is considered uninspired and inconsistent. However, he was one of the most prolific and influential pattern designers that had ever been employed by the Mint. He is probably best known for his Britannia inspired Trade Dollar that was made from 1873 to 1878 for circulation in China and other countries of the Far East. In 1878 Trade Dollars were discontinued, although proofs were made until 1885. One of Barbers negatives is that he was one of two Chief Engravers of the Mint not to have designed any major circulating coinage. He was responsible for the twenty-cent piece, but it was minted for only two years. Barber was succeeded at Chief Engraver by his son Charles.

The patterns of 1877 are extensive and exceedingly rare. Most were made as numismatic delicacies that were not intended for distribution to congressmen, numismatists, or other outsiders. The most sought items of 1877 are the half dollars.

The 1877 fifty cent J-1524 pattern has an R7 rarity rating, which means that 9 or 10 are known in all grades. The present piece in PR63 is tied for the second finest known with one other at PCGS and is tied for the third finest known at NGC.