Can you spare a grade.

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by furham, Oct 30, 2020.

  1. furham

    furham Good Ole Boy

    1948 Franklin. Am I correct in assuming that the reed mark under the 9 shouldn't affect the grade? 1948 Franklin 2.jpg 1948 Franklin 3.jpg
     
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  3. BuffaloHunter

    BuffaloHunter Short of a full herd Supporter

    I really like the looks of this one. Nice original feel to it. What's the splotch by the L?
     
    Evan Saltis likes this.
  4. Mountain Man

    Mountain Man Supporter! Supporter

    Appears to me to be XF45/AU50 based solely on the photos.
     
  5. BuffaloHunter

    BuffaloHunter Short of a full herd Supporter

    I'm not great with these, where are you seeing wear? I was leaning toward MS63 on this one.
     
  6. ddddd

    ddddd Member

    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.
     
  7. brokrken

    brokrken Active Member

    I'm also struggling a bit on this one. Looks like a dirty, low MS
     
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  8. TypeCoin971793

    TypeCoin971793 Just a random guy on the internet

  9. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    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.
     
  10. Lehigh96

    Lehigh96 Toning Enthusiast

    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.
     
  11. physics-fan3.14

    physics-fan3.14 You got any more of them.... prooflikes?

    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.
     
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  12. chascat

    chascat Well-Known Member

    Looks like a mint set coin...MS63FBL is my guess, but it might like an acetone soak.
     
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  13. Mr.Q

    Mr.Q Well-Known Member

    I like the coin. In my opinion low MS
     
  14. Mike Davis

    Mike Davis Well-Known Member

    The color/toning is confusing me, but I'm leaning towards ms63 as chascat said. Nice looking bell lines.
     
  15. furham

    furham Good Ole Boy

    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.
     
  16. physics-fan3.14

    physics-fan3.14 You got any more of them.... prooflikes?

    "brown envelope toning" and "a little bit of wear" are not mutually exclusive.

    In fact, I'd wager this coin has both.
     
    furham likes this.
  17. Ana Silverbell

    Ana Silverbell Well-Known Member

    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.
     
    furham likes this.
  18. BJBII

    BJBII Metrologist, CSSBB

    My thoughts tend toward AU58
     
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