By Mike Thorne (Coins Magazine, March 2004)
For several years
when I was a kid, my father gave me a weekly allowance of 50 cents. Although
that sounds ridiculously low in 2004, it was probably reasonable in the early to
mid-1950s. At least it seemed reasonable to me at the time.
After all, the things I was interested in, such as comic books, candy bars, cold
drinks, and movies, could generally be purchased for 50 cents, with change left
over. For example, I never paid more than a dime for a comic book, and candy
bars were a nickel. Movies? How about 25 cents for a double feature?
Now, what does this have to do with Franklin half dollars? Well, have you
guessed the coin my father gave me each week? That’s right—a shiny new Franklin
half dollar.
Do you think I kept any of those beautiful silver pieces? Well, if you do, then
you’ve never been a kid with an allowance.
For one thing, I was starting to collect coins, and I could acquire 10 nice
Buffalo or Jefferson nickels for my half dollar. Imagine you’re back in the
mid-50s. Which would you rather save—a common coin seen every day in circulation
or Jefferson nickel keys such as the 1938-D or -S, the 1939-D or -S, or even the
1950-D? Believe it or not, I hardly ever saw a Buffalo nickel without a date,
and early dates in the teens and twenties were not unheard of.
But my first love was Lincoln cents, and a Franklin half dollar buys a lot of
nice Lincolns from circulation. Over the years, I found a couple of 1914-Ds, a
couple of 1909-Ss, and lots of other nice semi-keys. High grade relatively
common dates in the 1920s and 1930s turned up with some regularity, and I
managed to put together rolls of such dates as the 1938-S and the 1939-D.
In addition, when I saved half dollars back in the 1950s, they were Walking
Liberties or Barbers, not Franklins. After all, the Franklin half dollar was the
unlovely coin that followed the Walking Liberty half dollar, which is widely
considered to be one of the all-time top designs on a U.S. coin.
At this point, you may be thinking that this sounds like an article against
Franklins rather than one for them. However—and here’s where the focus
changes–as a collectible series, Franklins have a lot going for them. Before I
tell you why I think they’re so collectible, let me give you a bit of the
history of the series.
Like the Roosevelt dime, the Franklin half dollar was designed by Mint engraver
John R. Sinnock. In fact, this was his last coin design, as he completed the
models for the new half dollar only a few weeks before he died.
Also like the Roosevelt dime, Sinnock’s initials, JS, appeared on the new coin.
And once again the rumor was started that the initials really stood for Joseph
Stalin. As it had done with the dime, the Mint quickly squelched the rumor with
the truth—that the designer was John Sinnock rather than Joseph Stalin.
According to Walter Breen’s Complete Encyclopedia of U. S. and Colonial Coins,
the Fine Arts Commission disapproved of Sinnock’s design. Their main issue with
the coin had to do with the reverse, particularly “the small eagle at r[ight] of
the Liberty bell (which eagle was included solely because the law had required
it ever since 1792) and the plain crack in the bell because forsooth ‘to show
this might lead to puns and to statements derogatory to United States coinage.’”
Despite the disapproval of the Fine Arts Commission, the Treasury went ahead
with the design, “crack and all.” The coins went into production on April 30,
1948. In addition to the Stalin rumor, the word soon spread that the small “o”
in “oF” (“UNITED STATES oF AMERICA”) was a mint error, and the coins on which it
appeared would soon be recalled. Breen writes that this rumor “died…quickly.”
Breen also informs us, “Because dealers saved rolls and bag lots in quantity, no
officially recorded dates or mintmarks can even be called scarce.” Thus, the
Franklin half dollar series is a series without a so-called “key date,” a coin
so scarce (and usually expensive) that it effectively keeps many collectors from
completing the series. Of course, this lack of a true mintage key is one of the
reasons this series is so collectible.
It’s true that there are no key dates if you’re considering just reasonably nice
circulated or uncirculated specimens. However, there are definitely condition
rarities, particularly if the focus is on gem coins with sharp strikes. For some
dates, coins so well struck that all the horizontal lines show on the lower part
of the Liberty Bell are virtually nonexistent. In addition, the obverse design
of the Franklin half has a considerable expanse of open space, where bag marks
are particularly obvious. This also tends to decrease the number of super
high-grade pieces.
If you’re interested in which Franklin halves tend to be softly struck, with
relatively few specimens having full bell lines (FBL), Q. David Bowers has a
useful list in United States Dimes, Quarter and Half Dollars: An Action Guide
for the Collector and Investor. In general, he writes, “the delineation of [FBL]
is often sharper on Philadelphia and Denver Mint coins than on San Francisco
pieces.” The date/mint combinations he lists as being scarce with FBL are as
follows: 1949-S, 1951, 1951-S (he calls this the key to the series in terms of
FBL), 1952-S, 1953-P and S, and the 1954-S, which he calls a “prime scarcity”
with FBL and “traditionally one of the last pieces to be acquired by the
specialist.”
In Mint State-63, the December 2004 Numismatic News “Coin Market” assigns only
one date a value of more than $100, and this is the 1949-S ($110). The 1949 and
1949-D list for $80 and $70, respectively, and all the other dates, except for
the 1952-S ($52.50) are below $50.
Prices go up dramatically in MS-65, and there are some real surprises in the
“common” dates in the 1960s. For example, the 1960-D lists for $475 in this
grade, which is considerably more than you would have to pay for the mintage key
1949-S ($155).
Of course, if you’re interested in MS-65 pieces with FBL, then you must be
prepared to pay what some non-Franklin collectors would consider exorbitant
prices. For example, a 1949-D MS-65 FBL lists for $1,750, which is the same
value given to a 1961 Franklin in the same grade. An MS-65 FBL 1962 is even
pricier, listing for $1,850. But the creme de la creme is the 1953-S, which had
an original mintage of more than 4 million pieces. “Coin Market” says this one
is worth $16,000!
The 1951-S, which Bowers called the key to the series in FBL, is in the top 10
pricewise, according to “Coin Market,” but just barely. In fact, there are nine
dates with higher values.
Of course, I should point out that Bowers’ book was published in 1986, which is
when the major grading services were just getting started. Undoubtedly the
recognized scarcity and values of the different Franklin dates have been
affected a great deal by the services’ population reports, and dates once
considered common are now known to be quite scarce.
If you’re interested in variety collecting, then you’re likely to be
disappointed with the Franklin half series. The latest edition of A Guide Book
of United States Coins, better known as the Red Book, lists only one variety, a
1961 proof with reverse doubling. The doubling is quite dramatic on this piece,
and Flynn and Wexler’s Treasure Hunting Franklin and Kennedy Half Dollar Doubled
Dies says, “This is one of those varieties that markers are not needed to
identify. It could probably lay claim of being the strongest half dollar doubled
die of any series.” Values are appropriate for such an obvious doubled die:
$1,250 for a Proof-65, according to the Red Book; $1,400 for the same grade,
according to Flynn and Wexler.
Most of the other doubled dies in Flynn and Wexler’s book are of what I would
call the flyspeck-collecting variety. That is, I find them hard and sometimes
impossible to see even in the huge enlargements used to show them in the book.
Now don’t get me wrong: If you find it enjoyable to look for the varieties in
Flynn and Wexler’s book, then more power to you. You should collect what you
want to collect, not what someone else thinks is worthy of being collected.
Another Franklin variety that’s occasionally listed in pricing guides is the
so-called 1955 Bugs Bunny variety. On some of the 1955 Franklin halves, a die
defect extending downward from Franklin’s upper lip gives him a rabbitlike
appearance. According to “Coin Market,” this variety is worth a slight premium
in lower grades, essentially doubles the price in MS-65 ($100 vs. $55), and with
FBL, it’s worth about four times as much as the normal 1955 ($750 vs. $185).
About the variety, Breen writes, “This var. is not rare but has long been
popular among fanciers of Mint errors and curiosities.” Early in this article
you may remember that I said the Franklin half dollar series has a lot going for
it as a series to collect. For one thing, as I noted above, there are no mintage
keys. In fact, the date with the lowest mintage, the 1953, was coined to the
tune of nearly 2.8 million pieces. Compared to Walking Liberty half dollars,
this wouldn’t even make the top 20, and the comparison is even worse with
earlier half dollars.
Another plus for the collectibility of Franklin half dollars is that the basic
date-mint combination set consists of only 35 different coins, which is less
than half the number in a similar collection of Walking Liberty half dollars. In
addition, because of the relatively large mintages, prices for coins in decent
(but not spectacular) condition are reasonably low.
Another way to collect Franklins is to acquire a set of the proof versions.
Here, there are just 14 different pieces for you to assemble, with all but 3
being valued below $100 in Proof-65, according to “Coin Market.” The expensive
trio, as you would expect, are the earliest dates: 1950 ($275), 1951 ($200), and
1952 ($135). After 1952, the values descend rapidly, so that by 1956, they’re
all well south of $20.
Once again, there are remarkable premiums for better pieces. If you desire cameo
contrast on your Proof-65 (or better) Franklins, then you’re definitely going to
have to pay for it. According to “Coin Market,” a Proof-65 CAM 1950 Franklin is
worth $3,700. Of course, the prices go down from there, but you’re still going
to have to shell out quite a few dollars to put together the complete set with
cameo contrast.
Franklin half dollars are big, they’re silver—in fact, they’re the last of the
half dollars that are all minted in 90 percent silver—there aren’t that many
different date-mintmark combinations, they’re reasonably plentiful (unless
you’ll only settle for the very best), and they’re remarkably affordable. So if
you haven’t made a serious effort to put together a nice set, what are you
waiting for?