80s Kid

Reverse

And finally have a respectable Franklin Half considering the rest are culls or not far off:

Reverse

Finally got a 1914 Barber Half but still on a quest for a proof...

I was looking for a discussion related to Barber Half Dollars and came across this entire thread. I've been coin collecting for less than two years and have used this site for less than a year; visiting once or twice a week approx. A few thoughts: 1. The NGC Chat Boards/Forums should be accessible from the NGC Home Page as a main topic. Many comments talk about a lack of activity. For someone who hasn't used this site as often, the fact that I have to navigating to the "Resources" menu first does not help. In addition, the Resources menu has "Chat Boards" near the bottom and it can be hidden depending on how your page is viewed (cropped off bottom of screen). 2. The topics are too broad. I could be wrong but coin collecting/numismatics as a hobby would seem to be more about "specialization" in that collectors typically focus on specific areas. It would be helpful to break out U.S. Coins as a completely separate category with subtopics devoted to denominations and/or individual series. For example: -I recently purchased an 1897-S Barber Half Dollar graded MS63 PL and was curious about what other people thought about the "PL" designation for Barber Halves and if the coin appears to be properly graded (this is the only coin I've uploaded so far). I went back and forth on whether to buy the coin and ultimately took the plunge. Feel free to criticize if you think I went in over my head (as long as it's constructive). 3. Consider allowing members to join specialized "groups" devoted to specific sets, coins, etc. (If this already exists, it should be more obvious). For example, my collecting is not relegated to a specific series. My focus is probably best described as "Key Dates" although I use this term loosely. I'd like to discuss this and get people's opinions on values, organization/display, budget, etc. If there's one takeaway from this post, I'd say there should be more specialized topics for people to post. These topics can even be split between "newbie" and "veteran" if needed. I absolutely enjoy the hobby but the Chat Boards for this website come off as too vague with insufficient focus on obvious subcategories. These are my opinions and pushback or constructive criticism is fine as long as it's fair.