Other than the fact that you can find junk Franklin's in much better overall condition that Liberty's, is there any compelling reason to invest in one over the other? If silver crashes, will one retain a better collectors value? I am leaning towards Franklin's, as the junk bucket at my LCS has coins that are barely worn, where the Liberty's are going to be worn. They sell them at a small premium, based on their 90% silver content. The premium is lower than the premium on .999 bars for example, and again I am only paying for their silver content. For example, when silver was $30 an ounce they quoted me $1 worth of Franklin's for $22.30. Thats 60 cents over spot, versus $1.10 over spot for 1 oz bars I purchased at the time.
I think Franklins are the better play right now. Walkers are such a popular collector coin, that the premiums are higher. A local dealer just quoted me $650 for an entire set of Franklins in BU, including all the keys. That's barely $200 over melt right now, for all 35 BU coins in pristine condition. I call that a good deal. Heck the way silver is rocketing up, the melt value of the set could conceivably exceed that amount soon.
I like circulated Frankies ... closer you can get to spot the better ... plus Franklins will have roughtly 3% more silver than the Walkers due to less wear
All of the Walkers I have found roll searching have been slicks. I prefer the Franklins just because I like getting more silver. I have not found a badly worn Franklin. I have found a few very nice ones that look almost uncirculated.
I think that junk is junk. If you are buying silver, buy the less worn coins. The original question as it is phrased comes off to me as: "which pile of junk should I take, pile A or pile B?" The reason that the walkers are more worn is because they are a more desirable coin. In similar condition to the Franklins they would garner some small premium. if silver crashes the more desirable coin is the more desirable coin
