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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Insider, post: 24831261, member: 24314&quot;]The OP has opened a FBL rats nest!&nbsp; See: <i><b>&quot;Along with the obverse.&quot;</b></i></p><p><br /></p><p>It is MHO that some professionals folks have made coin grading so complicated that only &quot;they&quot; can do it!&nbsp; So grading FBL on Franklins has been so screwed up by folks who should know better (greed?) that you&#039;ll never get a satisfactory answer!&nbsp; You will need to make your own standards or know the standards of the TPGS you use becaust they are different.</p><p><br /></p><p>The serious Franklin collectors have their own standards that to my knowledge no one follows except them.&nbsp; Let me start with them.&nbsp; FBL&#039;s are an indication of the strength of the details of the design ON THE REVERSE.&nbsp; The amout of detail on a MS coin is influenced by a number of factors.&nbsp; The obverse and reverse of a coin can have a different appearance due to these factors.&nbsp; To get a fully detailed, fully struck coin (the FBL designation) from a Frankling expert The OBVERSE of the coin must show strong hair whisps!&nbsp; This would indicate a fully struck coin on both sides.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now for the professionals: Most others don&#039;t bother with the obverse strike and are only concerned with the bands on the bell (FBL).&nbsp; Now, the wacky part.&nbsp; Somewhere in the past, some <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie34" alt=":clown:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> desided that any mark across the COMPLETE and STRONG BL design would eliminate it from the FBL designation!&nbsp; <b><span style="color: #ff0000">STRIKE and MARKS are two different things</span></b> but this unknown to me <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie30" alt=":bucktooth:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie34" alt=":clown:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> &quot;<b><span style="color: #b35900">Ex-Pert</span></b>&quot; made the rules that we follow.&nbsp; Additionally, some might ignore a shallow mark that does not penetrate to the bottom of the BL.&nbsp; Marks remaining from the original planchet that cross the lines are treated the same as contact marks (PMD) from circulation.</p><p><br /></p><p>Clear as mud?&nbsp; I&#039;m not finished with this <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie30" alt=":bucktooth:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> nonsense.&nbsp; In the past decades, some greedy <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie47" alt=":greedy:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie47" alt=":greedy:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie47" alt=":greedy:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> professional at a TPGS decided he could get additional business if they would LOWER THE long held STANDARDS for the FBL designation.&nbsp; Previously, both the upper and lower BL had to be complete and mark free to get the FBL designation.&nbsp; THAT WAS CHANGED so that now, many folks only care about the bottom BL&#039;s.&nbsp; <b>All of this affects the value of a coin.</b></p><p><br /></p><p>Grading a coin&#039;s condition of preservation is an <i>easily determined constant</i> as long as it remains the same.&nbsp; As soon as commercial grading (PLACING A VALUE ON A COIN) is involved, the condition of the market, evolving grading &quot;standards,&quot; rarity of the coin (date, mint, mintage, survivors), and its provenence is considered, grading becomes a complex art left to the professionals.</p><p><br /></p><p>PS An image with fluorescent light would remove the glare so we could see the BL better.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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