WOW! Way to go! Very nice purchase, you showed me wrong :kewl: From those pictures it looks like a weakly struck, oddly toned coin. I can't really comment on the grade, because the pictures are so far out. You made a good purchase my man, congrats In agreement 100%!
First I would go to NGC website and authenticate it, But would let this one slide just cuz I personally dont collect franklin halves. Dont have nothing against them just not for me.
I have faith in NGC grading, too. However, I read an article on coins in the Wall Street Journel a few days ago that said twenty (20) graders at NGC grade 12,000 coins per day. In an eight (8) hour day, that's an average of 75 coins per hour, per person...more if they take lunch or smoke breaks. That's less than a minute per coin. It probably takes that long just to fill out the paperwork. I wonder if they're as sharp at 3 PM as they are at 8 AM. I know I wouldn't be.
It only takes 5 or 6 seconds to grade a coin, so the rest of the time is for marking your grade down, setting it aside and picking up the next one. As for the original question, no I would not have bought that coin based on those pics. And I definitely would not have bought it based on your pics. The coin is a 63 at best IMO (based on your pics), and while I had my suspicions it was over-graded based on the sellers pics I couldn't tell for sure, that was more than enough to make me say pass.
Wow. That's mighty harsh GDJSMP. What are you seeing in the pics that makes you think its MS-63? I see: strong strike, bold luster, mark free surfaces, eye appealing toning. I also see a mark on his cheeck and a couple in his hair that hold it back - but nothing near Ms-63. I have a few MS-63 Franklins, and they are beat up like crazy with dull luster - nothing like this 1955 I just bought.
Good buy to say the least. I have some MS63s as well. Although it is not a key date at all, I buy Graded 63Ds because I like the date.
Mark free surfaces ?? Not even close. The rev is fairly clean but the obv certainly isn't. There are 3 major hits and a dozen more small ones on the cheek alone - prime focal areas. And there is a gouge under the Y. There is a multitude of hits in the hair and around the rest of the coin. Even on a good day this coin should not make 64 let alone 65. A 65 is Gem quality coin with no major hits in prime focal areas. This coin does not qualify. And I'm not being harsh, I'm just being honest.
I would not have bought it either, based on any of the pics I've seen. Frankly, I don't care all that much about what a TPG says, except as one factor in assigning value to a coin. The only grade I ultimately care about is the one I assign. In this case, much of the value depends on whether or not the FBL designation is legit, and I simply can't tell from the pics. Unfortunately, physics-fan, it also seems to me that GDJMSP's observations on the grade are accurate.