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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;jcakcoin, post: 1484870, member: 29209&quot;]A Franklin set is short, has few key dates, yet still has a bit of challenge.</p><p><br /></p><p>MS63 isn&#039;t a good grade for Franklins, many bagmarks and hits everywhere, some 64s are just as bad. For the non-key dates, circulation-strike Franklins can be found for under $30 in 64 and under $50 in 65 without <b>F</b>ull <b>B</b>ell <b>L</b>ines. FBL will increase the price by 50% for most dates, however some dates are nearly non-existent in FBL (particularly the 1953-S). Most dates can be easily found in MS64 or MS65 FBL for a fair price except the ones minted at San Fransisco (poor quality), 1961 to 1963 from both Philadelphia and Denver (poor quality) and the 1949 D and 1953 P (low mintages). <b>The grade and the FBL designation can be debated endlessly, so try to ignore it and focus on a clean, well struck example for each date</b>. A good first coin would be a well struck example from 1948 (P or D) to understand how the design, the details and bell lines are supposed to look</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Proofs were struck at Philadelphia from 1950 until the end of the series in 1963. A proof set is shorter than a business strike set, however finding the 1950 and 1951 proofs will be quite difficult. Good grades for proofs would be PF66 and PF67. In 1956 the design of the small eagle on the reverse was changed, you may have one or both types in your collection; not a requirement. <b>Full Bell Lines are ignored as nearly all were struck extremely well with full bell lines. </b></p><p><br /></p><p>A good online reference book can be found <a href="http://blog.davidlawrence.com/index.php/reference-books/the-complete-guide-to-franklin-half-dollars/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://blog.davidlawrence.com/index.php/reference-books/the-complete-guide-to-franklin-half-dollars/" rel="nofollow">here</a>:</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Are you purchasing coins raw or certified?</b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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