Well thanks to Chris for helping me almost complete my Kennedy Halfs collections with the purchase of his Grandpa's doubles I am now interested in the Franklin series. This set is only 35 coins and seems like it would be easy to complete. I would like to get some thoughts on prices. I have located someone that has several coins and offered them at $6 each mostly late 50s early 60s in EF-XF. I am thinking that is to high as they are just worth over silver content. I have checked completed listing on E-Bay and found complete sets going for 150-175 so I am alittle confused on this series and it's availablity, price verus silver content. thanks in advance lost in Franklin Randy
I have been putting a set together for about 4 months now. Yesterday I finally got a decent 1955 at a coin show for $25.00 Two months ago I saw that same coin and decided it would be right for my collection. The ask price was $32.00. Towards the end of the show dealers tend to dicker a little better. Two months ago he said he would sell for $25.00 I wanted that key date 1955 to be nice. So yesterday I asked if the price was still good. OK he says and now I own it. What you will find is that the price of certain Franklins have nothing to do with the current price of silver. About half of what I have so far are not uncirculated. After I complete the set I probably will upgrade some and sell the doubles. A decent set sells for about $475 and a great uncirculated set goes for about $750.
The set can be easy to put together in circulated grades---I used to be able to get Half Dollars for $2.50-$3 each but now you are looking at $3-$4 each for circulated grades The 1955 while not the hardest one to find is easy to find in BU grades---- You can put together a nice set for alittle over $100.... Speedy
it is a fun set to put together. I did mine strictly by searching through my dealer's "junk silver" bin. I got lucky that there was a very nice (MS63/4) 1955 in there, but other than that one a circulated set should be available for right around melt value. If you want to work on an unc set then it gets a little more expensive, but most are still available for $20 or so a piece.
Even with the recent collapse of silver prices, Junk halves have not been available for less than about $4.50-$5 each latly. I also used to get nice walkers in VF-AU for $2.50 last year. That was last year. Any junk half is at least 8.5X-10X nowadays. A "nice set" for a little over $100?????? Piece by piece??? Fantasy Land!!!! Speedy!!!!, and as moderator you should not give such opinions to lead perhaps an uneducated collector to believe that they can achieve unrealistic goals for prices below even wholesale junk price for silver.
Hey BZ.... Around here that isn't unrealistic----I think my dealer was selling halves for around $3.50 a few weeks ago.... Spot price for a half dollar with silver at $11/ounce is $3.95...your price of $8-$12 is more unrealistic Speedy
BTW--I was just thinking---maybe you didn't mean $8-$12...maybe you meant 8-12 times face value. While that would be alittle closer to what I'm seeing it is still possible to do a set for alittle over $100---I think I saw a set on Ebay go for about $130....and it had some BU coins IIRC. Speedy
I am putting together a MS set and it is a little pricey but that was my choice. You could probably put together a circulated set much cheaper. I am averaging about $20 a coin so far. That does not include any keys or semi-keys, which aren't many anyway. I am saving them for last. Why? I don't know, maybe as someone suggested you should knock these out first. Maybe I should. I think you have to do whatever is in your budget. I am thinking I am going to put together a circulated set next just for the fun of it and see how cheaply I can actually do it for. Of course, like most, I have sets of just about any denomination going at the moment and I am always broke so I try to split things up a bit but I am strictly concentrating on my Franklin set for now. Have sort of put my Mercury Dime and Liberty V-Nickel set on hold for now unless something just happens to pop up but I am not actively buying for them at the moment. I figured I could concentrate the few dollars I have for my coin budget and get the Franklin set done first. That is if I can quit buying these darn world coin lots I have been snatching up for the wife. She needs to start spending her own money dangit. :smile
A bit off subject, but I think it is important enough to comment anyway. There is something that all of the members of Coin Talk need to realize about the moderators and that is that we, the moderators, are first and foremost members of the forum just like you. That's how all of us started out and how all of us will end up. I would estimate that 95% or more of the post we make are made as members, not as moderators. And in that regard we are no different than any of you. Not a one of us was asked to be a moderator because of what we know or our knowledge base. We were all chosen because of our ideals, our sense of fairness, integrity, even tempers and a desire to help others when possible. Yes, jody526, satootoko, Speedy and myself will perform our duties as moderators when it is necessary in order to keep Coin Talk what is - a family oriented, friendly place for collectors to discuss coins and numismatics. Happily, we really don't have to do too much in that regard because we have such fine members. So please try and remember, being a moderator doesn't make us special or mean that we know any more than anybody else. We're Coin Talk members just like you and when we make a post it is to share what we do know or our opinions on a given subject. Every one of us makes mistakes, we try not to, but we are but human after all. But most of all - we're members of the forum
35 coins @ junk price around $4.00 is $140.00. You'll have to pay a premium over junk for the "S" mint and a few "D" mint coins. I'd say about $155.00 for a set in VF or lower condition. XF-AU closer to $200.00. Uncirculated - if you start talking full bell line and such - sky is the limit.
Thanks again everyone, as usual CoinTalk forum gave me the information that I needed to make a good decision. Now I need to spend some time learning what to look for and how to grade them correctly, at least in the ballbark.lol Randy
