Franklin Half Dollars? Supply and demand?

I have weighed 100 Franklins and only about 5 were on the extreme ends. 3 were 12.3 grams and 2 were 12.67 grams. That is a 0.075 gram difference on the low end from the 1% threshold and a 0.045 Gram difference on the high end for the 1% threshold (like you said the threshold would be 12.375 on the low end and 12.625 on the high end). I can't even find Fake/Copy/Fascimile Franklin Half Dollars on Ebay. I like your point about how a $1,000 face bag comes in within 1% always. If I took my hundred half dollars I would say 65 are in the 12.45-12.55 Gram range and the other 30 are in the 12.38-12.44 and the 12.56-12.60 range and only five are a little on the extreme ends. When they were pressing these coins it makes sense that some slabs were thicker than others and no two coins are exactly the same and I have only seen a few coins match out exactly to 12.50g, with that being said if you took my averages from the 100 Franklins they would be well within the 1% range when averaged. 3 of the Franklins are worn and well circulated, 2 aren't. I can't see anyone faking these yet and I have bought from well respected dealers on ebay (some have between 400-40,000 sales with almost all of them having 100% scores). I think some coins are naturally a little lighter and others a little heavier and this is how a $1,000 bag balances itself out to within 1%. Considering some are already slightly underweight it makes sense that with a little bit of circulation that some of the coin would wear away it is like any metal with friction. I have heavily worn Liberty Quarters that are down to 5.5g when it should be 6.25 grams. What do you think?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I would say the chances between having a coin under weight and over weight are about 50% to 50%. Very rarely do I ever measure a Franklin or a 1964 Kennedy and find it to be 12.50g spot on. It is almost always 12.48g or 12.53g or something like that. So I would say giving the fact that it should be spot on (12.5g) a 33% likelihood is a little overstretched. Nonetheless thanks for the help and you have made me think about things in a different light and come up with some of my own ideas. I appreciate your thoughts and thanks for your time.

 

I love weighing the coins and seeing if I get a little more Silver and to verify that my coins are authentic. I know the Chinese are probably coming up with some plot to copy Franklin Halves especially if Silver goes parabolic because of the coming US Dollar melt down.

 

I have some definitive information. Every coin has specific tolerance levels and certain specifications. The specification and tolerance levels for the US Benjamin Franklin Half Dollar are +/- .259 meaning that the tolerance range is 12.241-12.759 grams. This information can be found in the "Red Book Professional Edition", through printed sources, or online. Since I have measured my coins with calipers and now I am armed with this information I think it is safe to say my coins are authentic. Thank you for your time GDJMSP because you really made me think about some things in a different way. Your general rule of thumb is a good one to apply if you want to be safe, I just wanted the official tolerance ranges and my coins pass. Thanks and I look forward to meeting you again in the forums.