Franklin Full Bell Lines for dummies.

It might be worth remembering during the period of Franklin production, all Hub & Die work for all three Mints was exclusively implemented at the Philadelphia Mint Die Room. There are considerable evidence and antidotal data that suggests that the branch Mints were frequently treated like stepchildren and sent inferior or older equipment and supplies from the Philly Die Room. There are nuances to suggest intentional manipulation of die inventory distributed to the branch Mints to impair their ability to maintain quality control. Philadelphia exclusively punched mintmarks into every Working Die destined for the branch Mints. For the record, any aspersions to “sloppy” punching or poorly defined dies are a mark against the Philly Die Room’s quality control and not a reflection on the branch Mints.

The lack of definition of Bell Line in San Francisco Mint Franklin halves is a result of low strike pressure, overused, and over-polished Working Dies. This is due to the assumption that the Working Dies we “perfect” when they left the Philly Mint. However, this was not the case. Inferior material was constantly being earmarked for the branch mints. This is proven by the numerous examples of Franklin Doubled Die varies that plagued the 1950-1952 Denver and San Francisco Mint Franklin Half dollars. Many of the Reverse Working Dies shipped to the branch mints from Philly did not have fully struck Bell Lines right off the Hubbing presses. The best Working Dies were “Cherry Picked” by the Philly mint with lesser quality Working Dies sent to the branch mints.

More to the point, the San Francisco Mint was a “dumping ground” for outdated equipment, inferior resources, and insufficient fiscal support. During 1949 and 1950, excerpts from the “Report of the Director of the Mint” and correspondence shows minimal production support for the San Francisco Mint. At times, the Director of the Mint in Philadelphia openly chastised San Francisco Mint staff for developing innovative techniques to overcome deficiencies, die problems, planchet issues, and fiscal constraints. Remember, the Philly Mint was responsible to let local contracts for metals and supplies for the branch mints. Occasionally the suppliers shipped resources of dubious quality because the Philly Mint restricted budget allocations to the other mints. Ironically, some of the San Francisco Mint’s creative techniques to overcome these issues were eventually adopted by the other Mints.

The quality and quantity of Franklin Half FBL specimens are more due to Philly Mint's ego and politics than shotty branch mint practices. The disparity by collectors and grading services as to what constitutes FBL is tangential to the cause of the lack of definition. Post-strike damage such as dings or scratches on the Bell lines rarely impact the true strike characteristic of a well-struck coin. However, these marks have evolved into the subjective interpretation of “value” if you “buy” into the premise. Chasing an FBL specimen and ignoring a superior struck example may not be prudent to future collectors. Strick quality, even with muted currently trending detail (FBL), will always hold value. For the true collector of Franklins, it is the “eye appeal” that eventually brings the value even with slightly inconsistent bell lines. Which would you rather have in your collection, a Bright White MS65 1953 – FBL Franklin or a Natural Rainbow toned MS67+ 1952-S Franklin?

 

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Wow, really interesting....not sure anybody mentioned that in the post-mortem posts and I don't think that thread has had any recent activity. I'll have to check.

Thanks !

 

Fascinating info on the mints and their equipment/dies, Anntron !

 

I'm not sure what you want the response to be, Anntron....and I'm not sure what the wrong response is, either ....but I can say that from general comments here at CT and that Franklin Gradeflation thread....that regardless of what folks might prefer THEORETICALLy, they are going to want the coin that is worth more in the future (which I take it to mean might be the toned MS-67+FBL, esp. if they caught the upgrades).

 

1952-S MS67+? No such coin exists.

 

So the choice is



or......

Oh wait, I don’t own any untoned MS65 FBLs

Someone wanna help me out?

 

Again, thanks Lehigh. I would be happy with MS64 FBL for this coin. It’s a better date than some, which gives is a bit of value. I have been thinking that the PCGS guide value of any coin that I submit should be >$200. In the case of this coin, as I understand the market, I could maybe net a green Ben for a silver Ben, and that might be worth doing. I’ll put it into my economy submission pile for now and see what I think when the time comes.

Can you comment on the PCGS “minimum bell lines” picture? It looks to me like the bell lines toward the right edge are completely missing...! How can this be considered FBL?

 

Interesting. Turf wars and tribal behavior. Sounds like a typical Fortune 500 company.

 

When submitting coins, here is the formula I use. Is the purchase price + the grading fees (including S&H) lower than CDN greysheet for the lowest grade in the range that the TPG could grade the coin? If the answer is yes, I submit the coin. I never use an arbitrary number like $200. This allows me to pluck premium gem Jefferson Nickels from albums and attempt to get homemade MS67s. Often times I only pay a few bucks per coin and the grading fee is usually $25 (NGC) and most MS66 Jefferson’s are worth about $30 so I break even on MS66s and make good profits on MS67s.

Regarding the PCGS photo, I think the lines are probably full but the photo has degraded a little.

 

Exactly, arbitrary numbers don't make for great decisions. The simplest way to put it is if I sold it after submitting would I be ahead, if the answer is yes it's worth submitting or at least strongly considering it

 

I understand your business reasoning. I’m setting a threshold because I don’t look forward to the hassle of trying to sell coins. Fewer, higher value transactions seems to me to be the path of least resistance.

Nobody is crazy about leaving money on the table, so I plan to keep the lower value coins to the last and maybe things will go well and I’ll feel differently. I don’t know what kind of trouble to expect in selling coins because I have no experience. But I’ll say one thing - if I’ve lost my smile by then, I am just going to send them off to the rendering plant or put them up as raw coins on ebay auctions and be done with it. I’d rather leave a bit of money on the table than deal with a lot of aggravation at this stage of my life.