The 1966 SMS Kennedy half with no FG is a variety that is listed in the Red Book, CPG, and is recognized as a variety by the TPGs. I went on the hunt for one. This is a hard variety to look for by using pictures. The toughest pics to find this variety were the actual SMS sets. There are not a lot of pictures of individual coins when folks sell the entire set. While hunting this coin I found that I could bypass any coin that had cameo devices. They all had FG. There were quite a few pics where I wanted to pull the trigger. I finally settled on one. I stared at this coin for quite a while before I bought it. The coin is in an NGC holder. For some reason if you look on the NGC website they don't list this variety in their Variety Plus section. https://www.ngccoin.com/variety-plu...ollars/kennedy-half-dollars-1964-date/?page=1 Every other date within the Kennedy series that has a no FG is shown in their Variety Plus section. Maybe it is just an oversight by NGC. My pics are a little dark but, there should be enough to take a guess. You can clearly see the reverse is showing weak devices. The round blobs above E Pluribus Unum. The lack of detail in the tail feathers. Mushy wings. Lack of feather detail in the legs. What do you see? There's a poll.
It's hard to tell from your photos if I see a slight FG there. Some of them are from debris filled dies and when that happens they don't attribute the coin. I don't see many file lines or lapping present so I am not sure. Can you get a bit more light on the coin?
The photos are to dark to tell so I didn’t vote in the poll. I’m not seeing the FG but it appears to have a partial spot where the initials should be. If any portion shows, it’s an FG.
It enlarges some but still not sure about this. I think I see what Nut sees but it could also have something to do with the lighting. Can't vote at this time. If the submission did not ask for a no FG designation, then it would not have been missed, just not requested/paid for so not given.
The 66 SMS No-FG is listed in the CONECA Master Listings as the 66 SMS DDO-002, Stage E. The designer initials have been abraded away. You can see it on Variety Vista. http://varietyvista.com/12 Kennedy Halves/DDO Detail Pages/1966PDDO002.htm Attached are some photos of the 66 SMS DDO-002 No FG Stage E. The doubling on TRUST, the abrasion of the eye, the no-FG, and a good marker is the die crack on the top of the D and O of DOLLAR.
There are three bumps where the G is. The coin doesn't show any die abrading. That's why I had problems trying to look for one. Just like my photos, there were worse photos.
Three dots where the G is. I was mostly fishing for info and I got some. I didn't even look at CONECA before going on my coin hunting expo. I don't know that I would have still been able to see the markers, but at least I would have had that information.
Gronnh20…You said the 66 SMS No FG wasn’t listed on NGC’s Variety Plus section. Look again under Proof not the MS section. They have slabbed over 300 of them.
I bought this coin a couple years ago. I hadn't really checked into it too much. So, now I have a better picture of the coin for everyone to view. It is in the PCGS variety section. It matches my coin to a tee or T. https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1966-50c-sms-no-fg/411636 In my picture you may notice that there are no rays below the EPU banner. The stars to the left of the eagle's left wing are almost non-existent on my coin also. PCGS has their plate coin for this variety with the G barely visible. Do y'all agree with PCGS's assessment of the No FG variety from that one coin in the link I provided?
Your half dollar is not the CONECA listed or CP Guide listed 66 SMS DDO-002, Stage E, Designer's initials abraded away, or FS-50-1966-901. If you enlarge your reverse photo, or the PCGS photo you posted you can see the G…not a No-FG, PCGS has it wrong. What you have is just an example of an abraded die, which is very common to find on Kennedy Half Dollars.
