I ordered a 1959 mint set from a coin company that does business online. Although the set was not advertised as "sealed" or "unsearched", the envelope was sealed when it arrived. I have several old mint and proof sets and this envelope certainly LOOKED like it could be nearly 50 years old. I opened it, and imagine my surprise when I discovered I had two FBL halves. Both are top notch. Although I will NEVER have these slabbed, I am quite confident that they would reach a 66. Now, I know that slabbing them, and being lucky (yes lucky because that's what it takes to get an NGC 66, not a great coin) enough to get a 66FBL would make them book out at about 8 g's total. Even if they aren't 66FBL, I'd bet my life they are an easy 65FBL. I'd like to post pics, but every time I get a $100 to spend, it goes for coins instead of a QX microscope. I really have to get one of those though. Steve
Nice going!!!.....I know the feeling of finding a good coins for just a few dollars---I know you have already said something about this but I would strongly suggest that you get them graded---by NGC---these coins are really high with FBL in high grades....even if you don't plan to sell them it would be a good idea. Speedy
My experience with NGC has not been good, and I doubt any TPG is any different. I have absolutely no faith in their ability to grade coins accurately. I have already had the experience of sending them a coin that I broke out of a mint set and they bodybagged it as having been cleaned. As far as I am concerned, that was the kiss of death for all TPGs for me. Steve
There is no excuse,except for simple human error,for bodybagging a coin taken directly from a mint set.It probably had full mint lustre and no hairlines from cleaning.Just reading about it makes me mad.
That stinks,did you ask for a refund from NGC? How much did the 1959 mint set cost ,if you don't mind my asking.? Nice score, some people have all the luck.
It was just a mess up----everyone does that---me, you, NGC and PCGS....they are the best coin graders for Franklin Halves....were there any hairlines on the coins that could have been made from being in the mint set??...if I see a coin with hairlines I always pass--even if its not cleaning I don't want to take the chance and mess up---maybe that was what NGC thought---they would much rather be safe than sorry. The reason I suggest getting such a coin graded is this---unless you get someone collecting Franklin Halves most dealers or such don't know how to grade them and such and would under value them---if they are graded they go by the Gray Sheet and such and you get a better price---the other reason is this---lets say you have the coin in a 2x2---it gets dropped one day and you MS66FBL coins becomes a MS64 coin because of the nice nick on the face---there aren't that many MS66FBL coins around...in fact on this date NGC has only graded...7 with ONE higher... Speedy
If, and I emphasize the "if" because I don't see it happening, I decide to sell the coin, I will sell it for what I think it's worth and wait for someone to come along who understands the value of the coin. This would be a Franklin collector who is buying the coin and not the slab. The coin is in an airtite and then a 2x2 This is another reason I don't like TPG's. To me, as a collector rather than an investor, that pop doesn't really matter. Now, I know I mentioned numbers in my original post (66 and 65), but I just wanted to paint a picture of how great these two coins look because I can't post a picture at this time. I really don't put a lot of stock, personally, in the numbers. I like BU, Select BU, Choice BU, and Gem BU. (I guess this shows my age.) I just don't think a guy flipping through several hundred coins a day can be that accurate. Anyway... this has gotten really side tracked. I just wanted to let you folks know how excited I was to get such unexpectedly great coins. Usually, in my case, when something unexpected happens it isn't the good kind of unexpected.
I paid $50 plus $4.00 shipping for the mint set. I thought it to be a good price, even if the coins had turned out to be average. I did go around and around with NGC about the bodybagged coin and got nowhere. Also, I should probably mention that although I am a Franklin collector, I also collect mint an proof sets so I don't see myself breaking this one open. The only reason I have broken sets in the past was to complete my Frankies, and that has been accomplished. Steve
And I'm glad you did!!!...us Franklin collectors are few in number here!... Sorry if I sounded rude in my suggestions for grading...---I know what you mean!...I'm just glad we don't have a 100 point grading sys. Speedy
one other thing i want to say about TPG: What will happen to your coins when you are gone? (god forbid) you may have a family member that just brings them in and sells them for "melt" because they do not know better... If they are in a slab, graded, then they have a much better chance of knowing what the coins are worth. I have helped people liquidate coin collections that they inherited. Its amazing to see how bewildered people can get over a pile of coins. They can pick up a red book, but they may have no idea about the intricacies of grading, what cleaning is, etc. One of the family's i helped, they where so afraid of the unknown that they kept EVERY coin that their passed relative had in the house, even his change jar! they had NO idea what to do, none of them did. The coin collection ended up being one more thing that they had to deal with, on top of the house (selling it) and making final arrangements... If i had not stepped in to help them they would have sold it for half of what i finally got them. After seeing this kind of thing happen, i decided to get most of my coins slabbed. I still purchase raw, and send in for grading. Its kind of fun for me actually. Some of my coins i keep in airtites, but I am clearly labeling every one of them with gold content, information, whatever. I also have detailed records of most all of my coin purchases, how much i paid, where i got them, etc. I am young, i don't think i need to worry to much about death right now, but accidents happen. I want to make sure my family, my wife, son, whoever gets my coins when i go has as much information as possible on what to do with them. If they choose to sell them, then i want them to get a fair price. Of coarse, i hope they keep them and discover the joy of numismatics, but thats their choice. I do not know your personal situation, you may have someone that you have willed your coins to that knows a lot about them. I just wanted to post this for others...
The executor of my estate is well-versed in numismatics. Paying a slabbing fee for the coins would diminish the net proceeds at the end. Not only that, but I think I'd be paying a premium for what amounts, IN MY OPINION, to shoddy work. Many people on this board seem to have the attitude that its ok if the TPG makes a mistake once in a while. Gee, I wonder if they'd be that fogiving with their brain surgeon. And before you think that's an absurd analogy; remember that 1 point can be a difference of several thousand dollars. I trust my grading judgment, and deal only with people who have proven their good grading judgement to me. It's that simple. Now, if the rest of you posters would like to continue a TPG debate, I would kindly ask that you start new thread. The subject of this thread was 2 Franklins found in a mint set. A little help from the moderators in closing this thread would be appreciated. Thanks, Steve
I did not intend to offend you, if i did i apologize... I am not a franklin specialist, but i have a good set started. Congrats on your find!
