Hey everybody, how's it going? My question for today: Is there any market or demand for Franklin Silver half dollars? If not, why? If so, what dates are key? Thanks in advance.
Yes there is some market...some like them some don't. In the last few years they seem to have gone up a little... I like the Proofs right now... If I was buying for collecting OR resell I think I would try to buy high MS grades and Also MS grades with FBL (Full Bell Lines)... I would call the keys 1949-D-S 1953-P In proofs the dates from 1950-1955 and 1958 seem to be harder than the rest. Speedy
After looking at the book (Red Book) it would appear that any of the halfs minted in the years 49, 50 & 51 would be worth keeping if you could find them in Mint State quality. Otherwise none of them are too difficult to find and buy, without it costing you an arm and a leg.
There is most certainly a market demand for Franklin Halves... If you are looking to sell common date, average grade circulated halves you can expect to get around $4.60 per $1 of face value. For circulated coins, look at the following dates as they are going to bring a premium over the common dates if they are in around VF or better: 1948 P&D 1949 P, D & S 1950 P&D 1951 D&S 1952-S 1953 P&S 1955 1956 If your selling them to a dealer, don't expect too much of a premium though, unless you are talking about the 49-D&S or the 52-S or if the coins are in AU. If your just looking to put coins away, rolls of any of these dates are worth saving and in my personal opinion, collector interest in circulated Franklins hase been on the rise. The better dates are going to be the same in BU, and any of the Franklins minted before 1953 are going to fetch more than the later dates. As mentioned, look for well struck coins with full bell lines or at least close to if, if you can afford to do so. In my opinion, demand is solid for the BU examples but I don't see massive collector interest. As sets go, the Franklin halves are a great set to put together - easy to find, not too expensive, and they can be a lot of fun especially if your patient and willing to cherry-pick for those strongly struck examples that can be found at regular price points.
I like the Franklins myself. I have a complete Choice-Gem BU set in a Dansco album. However, currently, it's possible the market is softening a bit on them. I had a 28 coin lot consignment of mostly high-grade Franklins in BU and Proof (graded 65-68) from 1952-1963. I took it to the Denver coin show and showed it to around 20 dealers. All of them resoundingly rejected the lot. There were a few dealers that wanted to cherry-pick the coins but it wasn't worth my effort to sell them off that way since my profit would have been meager. And, all of the dealers pretty much said the same thing, there's too much of that material on the market. It's a good thing if you're buying, but not great if you're selling.
When it comes to BU Franklins there is a pretty wide spread between the buy and sell prices. Most dealers have ample supply of the coins and what they are purchasing from you will likely remain in their inventory for substantially longer than other "hot" coins. Is there collector interest, certainly and I would rate it as solid for the BU coins. Unfortunately, it would take substantially higher collector interest to drive up the market for the BU coins and to raise the buy prices of dealers.
Thanks for the replies.....picked up a bunch that look pretty good. Mostly common dates but got a couple of 54d, 52, 48, 54, 61d, and a bunch og 63's. Most have good full bell lines and in decent shape.
Now MAKE sure that ALL of the bell lines...the top 2 and the lower 3 are full...no nicks or digs to mess them up...and fully split apart. Speedy
