Here is a 59-P Franklin FBL that looks very nice in hand, great luster, clean surfaces and no noticeable hits. In the picture you can see an outline - an irregular ring - all the way around the chin area. There are at least five other rings like this on the obverse, all smaller than this one. Also, at the high point of the chin there is a small flat spot, as though metal was removed. I have a lot of Franklins, but have never seen anything like these rings or a flat spot. This sort of thing must have happened at the mint...?? I’m no expert, so I don’t know what this is. Can somebody tell me what is going on with this coin?
considering there's more "rings" on his jacket a whole lot of little dots, and a big dot above the W in "WE" My opinion, it was toned badly in a harsh environment, it ate at the surfaces and then someone neutralized the contaminant and dipped it to blast white again. Slight chance it's some sort of die rusting situation, but I find all white coins from 60 years ago suspect of at least a dipping unless they came from Arizona. that's for someone more knowledgeable than me on surface conditions.
I've seen those on the lunar surface. They're caused by meteor showers. In this case, these are little meteors. Technically, "micro-meteors." That looks like a proof, BTW, from that camera angle. If we can see it head-on, I'm sure we can dx it for you.
Must have had some acid damage or something inspiring them to do it. Looks sandy, not smooth at all. It likely was not a proof coin when it was treated that way.
Benjamin Franklin had acne like the rest of us. Looks cleaned, dipped and the coin has numerous craters in the field. Probably toned at one point.
Yeah, craters on the moon, just what I thought when I saw them, grin. No, this isn’t a proof coin. And it was never toned. I know where this coin has been. I recently picked it out of a BU roll that I have had in my possession for 45 years. There was no toning on the coin 45 years ago, there was no toning on the coin when I sorted through this roll. Besides, the craters show no dullness whatsoever - they have the same luster as the rest of the coin. That wouldn’t be possible if corrosion had eaten the coin. I think that this has to be a messed-up area in the planchet, but I have no expertise. Here is a photo that I took today, per your requests to see a straight-on view. This view isn’t quite straight-on, but I don’t have the right light at the moment to do it straight-on. You can clearly see that this isn’t a proof coin, and you can see that these craters are hardly visible. I *can* pick up - barely - the outline of the crater in the jaw area if I get it in just the right light, in hand. I’m selling my coins and am doing submissions, so I’m wondering if it would grade. Within the cratered area on the jowl is that small dark spot that I mentioned earlier. It appears that the metal has been sheared right off, but I don’t think that this is the case, given the fine condition of the entire cheek area. Rather, I think it is part of the planchet problem, if the planchet is what the problem is. 59-P is tough in FBL in the high grades. Except for the reed marks on the shoulder, which do no detract a lot in hand, this coin has very clean surfaces and is *highly* lustrous. So my question for the group is, do these craters and the flat spot on the jowl make it a no-grade?
