You thoughts on this 1951 Franklin Half

I came across this 1951 Franklin Half that I would like your opinions on. My photography is not the best. The color is not quite right. The coin is a brilliant white. There are very few contact marks that I can see. I know it's a common coin, but to my eye it looks beautiful.

 

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WOW, what a beautiful coin!

Most Frankies are not this well struck. Do you have a grade?

I'm guessing MS67.

 

No I don't. It's raw.

 

Looks like it could be a Proof to me, very nice! How much are you paying for it? Very nice, no opinion on the grade but I'm thinking very high. Not a 70 but very high just the same. :thumb:

 

I'm not buying it. I found it in a roll that was given to me. I didn't think about it being a Proof. How can you tell the difference between a proof and a business strike? Maybe Physics Fan will show up tomorrow and provide some answers. He seems to be the most knowledgeable forum member on Franklin Halves.

 

Here's a link on the differences. His hair looks proof like but the coin doesn't have the DMPL areas that it should have. The DMPL stands for "deep mirror proof like" and it refers to areas around the devices, to the right and left of Franklin's head or bust. The DMPL reference is mostly used with Morgans but it really can be used for any coin.

http://coins.about.com/od/uscoins/f/proof_morgans.htm

 

Thanks for the link. The surfaces don't look proof to me. At least not compared to the more modern proof coins.

 

Great eye-appeal. It does appear to be well struck. Nice clean new dies. Certainly a keeper.

 

MS64 Full Bell Line/FBL

 

Nice coin for sure,I would say MS65 .You say you found it a roll ?

 

Believe me the luster is there I just can't capture it in my photos.

 

Yes. It was in a roll given to me by my wife's cousin along with this interesting coin, and in this case the color is pretty close to the actual coin.

 

great coin

 

I have to second it.:bow:

 

Agreed.

 

Going from the provided pictures, I would call this a 65. As GDJMSP indicates, the luster is what will really determine the grade on this one. Judging from the pictures (and how I interpret them), it does not have the luster for a 66.

The coin is well struck, but it does not meet my standards (or NGC's) for FBLs. It would be called a FBL at PCGS - but that is pretty much worthless in my books. Remember, PCGS only uses the bottom pair of lines for the designation, whereas NGC uses both sets of lines. This coin would be eliminated because of the large bagmarks on the top set of lines, an easy to see one on the right, and a harder to see one on the left (partially hidden in the glare). The upper left quadrant also appears to have some weakness.

So, to reiterate, I grade the coin MS-65.

 

Nice strike for a frankie. Really nice find from a roll. Its not a proof and I feel its a high end 65. Looks good with great eye appeal IMO.

 

Thank you for your opinion. As I told you privately I highly respect your opinion. I'll try to get some different pictures up this weekend. I honestly think if you saw this coin in hand you might give it a slight bump.