Franklin Full Bell Lines for dummies.

Lately, I have seen more and more Franklin Half Dollar Coins that are graded FBL. I have not much experience with this nomenclature (FBL and Liberty Bell coins were not in my collection activity) and began reading articles about same. Here is my dilemma: Graded coins which appear to have missing segments to the lines. I see coins on eBay graded as FBL yet see breaks in the lines and according to articles, the TPG's have their own criteria, eg. NCG requires two full bottom lines converging to the crack with a slight fading, my word, due to the die used. They also forgive at their minor small dings and scratches.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1950-FBL-M...586043?hash=item1f13e2547b:g:3w0AAOSwVe5fHz3R
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1950-Frank...c8AAOSw~fRfIITa:sc:USPSFirstClass!02886!US!-1
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1952-D-Fra...428263?hash=item3fe638e627:g:LnEAAOSwJn1fJHHH
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1952p-50c-...450804?hash=item3fe6393e34:g:iw8AAOSwP2VfJHRf

Comments on these coins?

 

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NGC requires that both sets of bell lines be full. PCGS only requires that the bottom set of bell lines be full.

 

From what I've read...NGC and PCGS grade FBL slightly differently. NGC requires both sets of bell lines be complete, whereas PCGS evaluates the bottom set of bell lines, only.

They both allow a slight space between the bell lines and the bell crack. They both allow very slight contact marks on the bell lines as long as they don't break the continuity of the lines.

If you're new to Franklin halves, it's interesting to note that the Denver Mint had the newest presses, and therefore, created the best strikes (FBL). The San Francisco Mint had the oldest presses and produced the weakest strikes.

It's also interesting to note that FBL wasn't the original reference of strike quality. The first few years, the clarity of "Pass and Stow" was the standard.

 

I got the NGC/PCGS standards from Appendix B of "The Complete Guide to Frankin Half Dollars" by Rick Tomaska (2002).

 

So, how do the coins listed in the opening thread 'pass' to become stow(ed) in holders with FBL credentials?

 

Trying to catch the bell lines with images can be tough. I trust that PCGS and NGC get it right most of the time.

 

Ain’t that the truth, worse than capturing full steps on Jefferson Nickels

 

I can't fathom how this is FBL:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1952p-50c-...450804?hash=item3fe6393e34:g:iw8AAOSwP2VfJHRf

 

Pictures can be bad and not show everything

 

Especially photos taken at an extreme angle like the ones shown.

 

I've been collecting Franklins for a little while. I have all of the coins, with only a few that have been graded. I knew what FBL meant, but I thought that you either have all the FBL or you don't. Now I am going back to look at my coins, both Raw and Certified, to look at the FBLs on the coins. BTW, where might I be able to get Rick's book on the Franklins?

 

Right Idhair most of the time but not always... The best grader is the one holding the coin in my opinion!

 

Here's a quote from Rick Tomaska's "The Complete Guide to Franklin Half Dollars"...

"There are corollaries in other coin series to the FBL Franklin. Mercury dimes are graded for Full Split Bands and Standing Liberty quarters for Full Head (FH). The purpose is to designate a coin that comes closest to exhibiting all the design detail originally intended for the coin.

An FBL Franklin should therefore possess a full or nearly full strike on all portions of the coin, including the two sets of bell lines on the reverse. The bell lines need not run right up to the crack in the Liberty Bell, but they should come within about 1/64th of an inch. Occasionally, on some "S" Mint coins with complete bell lines, the bell lines will fade and be very weak in their upper right quadrant. To qualify as an FBL, the lines should be fairly sharply defined (not necessary bold) on all portions."

This is why I've developed the habit of taking the overall strike of a coin into account when evaluating FBL.

 

PCGS applies FBL attribution based on the lower sets of bell lines. PCGS also allows "very slight disturbance of several lines." Didn't PCGS have a stricter standard before they announced this definition in ~ 1997? If I am correct, then an older PCGS holder (pre-1997) with FBL designation should be more desirable.

 

Spoiled

 

Yeah. Those nickel steps are mostly cut and dry. And hard to get CRH

 

Or a cherry picker

 

They should have a designation for "TFLB" for True Full Bell Lines! Do they exist? Is there non-existence the reason for all the compromises?
This is slabbed as FBL. I'm just not seeing why.

 

I wonder how something graded at just MS64 could possibly have FBL in the first place. Based on my understanding of what that grade entails, that is.