I'm leaning AU (55?) but this one is causing me trouble. The reed mark could affect the grade, especially when it's in a prominent spot. However, I've seen a Morgan graded MS 67 with a decent sized reed mark. So it sometimes gets by if there are no other distracting areas.
I was thinking low Mint State when I saw the obverse, but the reverse is definitely AU. I would say that it is an AU-58, but a lot of collectors would agree with that because they are used to seeing those coins with no toning.
The toning on this coin is absolutely hiding any luster at all making it appear at first glance to be XF/AU, but upon closer inspection there is almost no loss of detail and I would grade the coin AU58. The reverse shows both high point friction as well as friction in the fields.
On an UNC coin, a reed mark will absolutely affect the grade. However, on an AU coin like this one, a reed mark should not affect the grade.
The color/toning is confusing me, but I'm leaning towards ms63 as chascat said. Nice looking bell lines.
Thanks for the replies. I've had this coin for quite some time and I can never make up my own mind on it. Sometimes it looks like a little wear and sometimes not. A very experienced older collector told me one time it looks like brown envelope toning to him.
"brown envelope toning" and "a little bit of wear" are not mutually exclusive. In fact, I'd wager this coin has both.
Franklin halves are notoriously difficult to grade by photo because take for example the obverse, it looks as though Franklin's hair over and below the ear have wear but that could be uncirculated with a weak strike. If you are able to see consistent luster over the relief I would go MS63. I like the bag mark below the "9" in 1948; it looks like Ben Franklin's tie is sticking out. As an aside: I find this coin very appealing and I would keep it raw if I owned it.