"No bell lines" Franklins

Higashiyama

I have a 1954S mint state Franklin with literally no bell lines.

Can someone give me some history on why production quality was so poor on S-mint Franklins?

sumnom

I used to have quite a lot of NBL Franklins. There are many here who know better than me but from what I understand, many Franklins are poorly struck due to the design but I am not sure exactly why. Will the Franklin experts speak?

sumnom

Is there no one to answer this question on our august board?

lathmach

<< <i>Is there no one to answer this question on our august board? >>



This is the October board, Sumnom.

Ray

bennybravo

I'm hardly an expert, but I'll give you a condensed version about Franklin striking quality in general,from Rick Tomaska's book"The Complete Guide to Franklin Half Dollars".It has to do with the condition of the Master Die.In 1948,the working die was new, and all detail on the die was sharp, as on the original design of the coin.Each year, the master die was used to strike hundreds of working dies for all mints.As the years passed, the condition of the master die deteriorated.They reworked the master die before 1960 production started, and restored much of the lost detail. I'm not sure if that specifically aswers your question regarding S-mint coins.Master Die deterioration certainly didn't help the striking quality, but perhaps someone from RIcoins will chime in with more specific information regarding the San Francisco mint.

ursabear

I didn't think we were august or austere...

I like the answer here. It sounds like something the mint would do.

I have piles of mint state 1969, 1970 NS Jeffersons (NO Steps).

Ronyahski

On top of the die deterioration mentioned, it is obvious that SF did not fully strike coins during the 51 to 54 period. Look at the Jefferson nickels as further proof and how rare FS nickels are for those dates. It has to be attributed to striking pressure used at that mint. But I have never seen any historical info either as to why that happened. Maybe someone has a reference, I'm curious too.

bennybravo

ttt one more time

MrLee

ttt

itsnotjustme

Interesting points

FC57Coins

I agree with Ronyahski - not enough pressure on the presses led to the deterioration of the design on these coins. The best example being the 53S, of which there are only a handful of MS rated coins with FBL's. 52S is the next worse year, followed by 51S and 54S. The 49S halves have the best bell lines of the "S" mint Franklins. 54S halves are notorious for not having detail in the upper right hand quadrant of the upper bell lines, but I've seen some where they are almost non existent. By contrast, 54D halves are among the best struck halves for the series.

Regards,

Frank