Spent some time with the box of Franklins I’ve been posting from and found a ‘49S that appears to be as contact mark free as I’ve seen so far. Per @physics-fan3.14 suggestion, here is my detailed assessment: strike: weak, no chance at all at FBL Contact marks: virtually none. A tiny dot in Frank’s hair, small disturbance above date Eye appeal: very attractive mild golden hue. No distractions. Not blast white but some prefer a bit of character Overall ms65/66
I agree with your assessment of the strike. Not a chance of FBL. Luster looks a bit weak, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt based on how I'm interpreting the pictures. Eye appeal I'd say is neutral to positive, although I'm getting thrown off because your pictures are reading quite yellow (your white balance is a bit off, I think). Now... contact marks is where I'm going to disagree with you a bit. You are correct that there are no *major* marks... but this coin is covered in the sort of fine tickmarks that kill a grade. Look at his cheek, forehead, jaw, shoulder, above the date, around the rim, over much of the bell.... A lot of small, fine marks equals (or maybe is even worse than) one big mark. Unfortunately, I have to put this at a 64 from what I'm seeing.
To be honest, I haven't really tracked Franklin prices much recently. I built a really nice set on the NGC Registry, but I sold that over 10 years ago.
