Those who know me also know I have never been a fan of Franklin half dollars. I have purchased and then sold many Franklin's throughout my search for a keeper for my toned U.S. type set. This wasn't going to be an easy task, and I had already conceded that it may take a long time to find one. Especially since I buy raw coins for the Dansco 7070. The actual grades of the coins aren't of much concern to me as long as they are not damaged, and are at least BU and lustrous for the moderns. When it comes to toning, I generally like all colors and flavors, however I have a very personal taste when it comes to the type set. The goal is for the coins to share similar colors. My preference overall is what I call "salsa" and/or true "rainbow" colors. Greens, oranges, yellows and reds mixed in with some nice contrasting darker toning is first choice for me. Much to my surprise, the day has arrived where a Franklin has reared his ugly mullet and found a place in my set. I couldn't be more pleased and I know that the chances of finding another one like it are slim to none. The source of this Franklin comes from an unlikely place. It was pulled from a framed Type set that has been sitting in the back room of a coin shop for decades.. Usually these sets contain circulated and polished coins. However, many moons ago, someone must have started swapping out the coins with quality ones. This is my theory since half of the coins were in fact heavily circulated and polished, and the other half were real beauties. I bought the set without knowing what the reverse of the coins looked like. The price was right regardless. I almost hit the floor when I removed the backing! Anyway, here is the the Frankie that has made it into my set. I have also added a picture of the Morgan dollar from the framed set. Thanks for looking. -greg
Wowzers! Those are A-MAZING! I bet you almost fell outta your chair! That franklin is by far the most attractively toned specimen my eyes ever had the pleasure of beholding. Well done Greg. I am sure you are welllllllll pleased. Make sure you put in your will that your type set comes to me. K? Thanks.
I have seen similar sets Greg. Usually if the coin was just bullion at the time the set was put together, (usually late 60's), they put in BU coins like Franklins, Washingtons, Morgans, etc. It was the older pieces like barbers, SL quarters, and the like that were the problem coins in the holes. Nice little piece. I have to admit, if I ever got a chance to buy a BU Franklin set reasonably I probably would do it. I passed over the chance for years, I am not sure why. I kind of like them more the older I get.
That's a good point Chris. The Wash, Kennedy and a few others were actually un-molested. This may be the case. I could have just gotten lucky on the Morgan not being sent through a rock polisher. Maybe a common Morgan was worth bullion then as well?
1956 thru 1964 was a great time for silver coins. As a kid growing up in /Catskill Ny I was a paperboy . I had one lady that gave me Standing liberty quarter each week.I almost got a hole set of Philly Stl quarter for her. I always made sure her newspaper never let her paper get wet.
I like mullet man. Granted, the coin is more than a little "Joe Dirt" looking, but the reverse design is really cool. I love the mullet coin you have---Franklins tend to lend themselves to really attractive toning from album storage. Your type coin is incredible looking!!
Hundreds of thousands of BU morgans were melted as late as the late 70's. Common dates were basically bullion until the silver melt.
Mullet hair I am glad the US Army saved me from that era But Ole Ben Franklin days were wigs & Hats were in style I guess they had no Hair Club for men L L
Yeah, kinda nice, isn't it? I got it from Shane on a Sunday night auction, when a lot of folks were not logged on and buying. It went really reasonable for a MS 65 toner--think it was $65 or so.
1956 Philly Franklin halfs I like that year ,I have had a good toner from that year. Sold but PR-65/68 Cameo set that missing 1950.
