Mint Set Toned 1958 Franklin Half (wow)

I just bought this colorfully toned 1958 Franklin Half Dollar for $57 on eBay, a price I was happy with given the unique character of the coin. I loved the fact that both sides of the coin showed such striking color.



My first thought when I saw the intense color was that the toning must have been done by artifical means (even though the coin was blessed by PCGS as MS-65). The seller described the toning as "Mint Set Toning", something which I had never heard of.

So I did some web research and found out that up through the year 1958, the U.S. Mint issued Official Mint Sets in cardboard holders covered with green tissue paper; and the high sulfur content in the paper sometimes caused colorful toning if the coins were left in the holder for many years. Below is an original 1958 Mint Set cardboard holder and tissue paper (note the Half Dollar shown is not the same coin as above). I had never seen one of these old original cardboard Mint Set holders until now!

1958 Mint Set


Starting in 1959, Mint Sets holders were changed to soft plastic, which reduced the chances that the coins would tone. Below is the original 1959 Mint Set packaging (very similar to that used today).

1959 Mint Set


So this coin I bought was sort of an end of an era for colorful Mint Set toning due to the old original-issue cardboard holders and tissue paper. An era that ended in 1958.

Interesting how these holder decisions made years ago by the U.S. Mint, which might have been nothing more than an afterthought at the time, have such visual repercussions on coins that we all get to gawk at 53 years later.

I think this historical aspect of cause and effect is one of my favorite things about collecting coins.

 

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I as well!

 

I thought that that was cellophane?

 

yes, cellophane

 

thats a real beauty!!!!! they didnt just use green paper. i have other mint sets from the 50's that have different colored paper. they do get some pretty wild colors. some of my favorite toned coins are from those sets :thumb:

 

Thats a stunner. Nice pickup!

 

GDJ, you always have the answer ... pilofilm ... that's a word i've never heard but it wouldn't surprise me.
I love your 58 Franklin!! Gorgeous.
Is that in the original cardboard? Let's see the whole set. Did any other coins tone?

UrbanChemist, thanks for the info on the tissue paper color changes. I was actually born in 1957, so I dont remember any of this stuff! I just saw the green tissue paper in the photo I found.

 

GDJ,

I just bought this last night on ebay and it's being shipped so I haven't seen the coin in hand. The large photos that i used to make the image in my original post came from the sellers web page ... he also included a photo of the coin in the PCGS holder. I do note that the holder photo shows the coin being a bit less dark and less contrasty, softer colors, which I actually like a bit better -- I will have to see which is closer to reality (maybe this 2nd photo? who knows!)



Your thought that this might be your old coin is interesting -- although I think the odds of that are pretty small (don't you think?)

Was your coin graded or raw when you sold it?

It makes me wish that PCGS would allow owners to "register" their PCGS graded coin slabs, so you can always see who the current owner is of a graded coin (and perhaps a history of who owned the coin) -- something like that would certainly help with the detection all the fake chinese PCGS coins/slabs in the market place -- although some might not want to "advertise" that they own a rare coin.

If PCGS would allow this, the registered owner could be added to these Cert Verification pages:

http://www.pcgs.com/CERT/19172095.html

 

That's an awesome looking Frankie. My 65 doesn't have the tone but still a good buy for under $45.

 

Nice mint luster on that '58!

Franklins are nice as they are large coins that are no longer made and they arent that expensive.
It's the most recent major changeover in a circulating silver coin design (1964).

I think I got lucky with the bidding on my 1958-D
as a similar Mint Set Toned MS-65 1957-D (granted it has F.B.L. and mine doesnt)
has a current bid of $334.99 (WOW)

The toning is a bit more subtle on this 2nd coin, not sure I like the reverse that much though.
I do like the obverse toning with the green.

But putting a 3x to 5x multiplier on this 1957-D seems outrageous.

Two people must really want this one to get into this sort of crazy bidding war.

Auction Link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320663739846&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT



$334.99 ... Are you kidding me? Holy cow!

It makes my $57 coin look like a bargain.

 

That's just crazy stupid.

Numismedia.com lists a 57D FBL MS65 Franklin for $59.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's some shill bidding in that auction.

 

Very nice half and interesting post; I didn't know that about pre-'59 mint sets. Thanks for the post.

 

57 & 58 P&D are one of the harder yrs to get FBL details.toning just adds $$ to any coin but this may help.
http://www.pcgs.com/prices/PriceGuideDetail.aspx?MS=1&PR=1&SP=1&c=734&title=Franklin+Half+Dollar

 

I guarantee you there is no shill bidding on that auction or any of his listings. The fact is that on toned coins, the bidder is who puts the price. If you like it, you buy/bid on it. Besides, the coin is worth every penny IMO as a toned coin collector.

 

Toning on silver coins I understand. The natural tarnishing of the silver can come in different colors depending on the agent causing the toning. But yesterday my niece bought a Kennedy half with bright blue toning on the fields but not as vibrant on the devices. My thought was that it was a "doctored" coin but it ws only $10 in a dealers junk box and well she thought it was pretty. My question is with clad coins. I thought the cupronickel alloy was tarnish resistant. This coin was from the late '70's and it is more blue than any other coin I have seen. Do modern clad coins react as much as the old time silver coins without having a bit of help?