Did you know Stack’s Bowers Galleries is featuring The
Barnett Collection in our upcoming official auction of the Whitman Coin and
Collectibles Winter Expo, October 24-26 in Baltimore, Maryland? The Barnett Collection of Morgan silver
dollars represents the efforts, interests, and investments of three generations
of a small Southern family, spanning nearly 100 years of coin collecting. However,
Dr. George Harden Barnett (1923-2009) is given credit as the “patriarch” of
this collection.
Dr. Barnett was a family dentist who was best
described as a “workaholic.” He typically worked six days a week, with
appointments starting as early as 7:00 AM. These extensive hours accommodated
many working people – allowing them the flexibility to schedule appointments
that did not interfere with their work schedules. Dr. Barnett was a beloved
figure in his community as evidenced by his selection as his city’s Mayor and
later its First Citizen. Dr. Barnett found great pleasure in this coin
collection; it provided a place of solitude whenever he could pull himself away
from his very busy life.
The Barnett family is now offering approximately 1/3
of its collection of Morgan silver dollars, including an 1895 Morgan. Most of
the coins in this collection were uncertified when they were submitted for this
auction and the majority of the collection has been unseen by the public for 50
to 75 years or more. Dr. Barnett was described by one of his coin collecting
friends as “having a very good eye” for Morgan silver dollars, and the
grading/certification of most of the coins in this collection has proved this
to be true.
