new to collecting and need some advise

nocheese

iam interested in collecting the Franklin halves in graded form but iam new to coin collecting.what would be the best way to go about it. first what ms state would be the best i would like to stay around 15-20 per coin.. give and take depending on how many are hard to get.there is 15 years and two markings...30 coins what would it cost to put a set of these together.i might have some facts wrong but is this a worth will set to put together or am i barking up the wrong tree and wasting my money..any insight would help thanks.. a newbie

FC57Coins

Welcome to the fray of Frankies cheese!

Franklins can be put together in most price levels. If you're planning on staying in the $15-30 per coin range, you will find that most MS63's and some MS64's will fall into that category. Every once in a while, however, you may find that spending a couple of extra bucks will land you a real gem. Here's a certified PCGS MS65 that I picked up recently for $31 on Ebay - can't beat it!

Best of luck - if you have any questions on Frankies put'em up and Lucy, Gilbert, Oldcameoproofs, DCAM, the good Baron, and the rest of the Frankie Fiends will give you the best advice we can

Frank

JOHNandBEA

Welcome!................

John

Cam40

be bop a lula!!!!

i couldnt resist

nwcs

I can't help you with the investment side or cost side, but I can offer some good advice:

Seek out the highest grades you can possibly find in PCGS and NGC and examine the coins. Get a feel for what the best Franklin can look like. Then you'll be far better at evaluating lower grade coins and grading them. When you know what it can do, it makes the imitations more obvious. Even if all your purchases will be raw, or even VG level, this approach will help you.

Good luck!

Neil

MrEureka

I'm going to give you some very unpopular advice. BUY UNCERTIFIED COINS. That's it.

If you visit coin shops and coin shows and coin auctions you will be able to put together a beautiful set for $500 and it will take you a few years. In the process, you will learn how to grade, which will pay INCREDIBLE returns in the long run. Expect to get burned on lots of coins in the process. You will make up for it later. It's tuition.

BTW, you should also LOOK at certified coins. They will help you learn how to grade. Again, for the sake of DISCIPLINE, do not buy any slabs. Slabs are NOT bad, but you have to learn how to grade for yourself. Don't let anyone do it for you or you wont' learn. Later, after you learn how to grade, buy all the slabs you like. But only later. OKKKKKKK?????????

Talk to people too. Some can and will actually help you learn. Let me know if you have any questions along the way. I'm not always on line. And NO, I don't deal in Franklins. I just like coins and want this hobby to grow.

RYK

Andy, that is very unusual and interesting advice and makes complete sense to me. It makes me want to put together an UNC set of Frankies, too, just for the education. It would probably serve me quite well in my gold coin endeavors.

Robert

cladking

Be bop a lula, indeed!

Welcome aboard.

Stick with the certified if you must, but at that price level you can
get more coin raw. There aren't a lot of problems with lower
value coins so certification isn't as important. Go slowly if you do
decide to buy them raw. You'll need to learn what a mint state coin
looks like. A few dates you'll need to settle for AU. You can put to-
gether an attractive set for this kind of money whether you get the
graded or the raw coins.

cladking

I hope Lucybop is OK. It's been 28 minutes.

Merc

Buying raw franklins halves is not a bad idea. You can buy a few graded by PCGS in MS64 (mint state 64)to give you experience to know what to look for. Raw ones in MS63 are rather common and shouldn't cost you too much. If you want bright white ones, be sure to looked out for harshly cleaned coins or Almost Uncirculated (AU) coins cleaned to look uncirculated. Franklins are common enough so you should be able to find nice uncirculated ones for each date and mintmark.

LucyBop

Lucy is looking at her Roosies, quit bugging!!!!






Oh yeah, I have full Franklin sets many times over in raw coins, and some of those will grade ms66fbl. And I bought them very cheaply.
It can be done....

FC57Coins

Buying GOOD raw Franklins takes some practice. especially if you're talking about some of the mushier dates (51S-54S, and most of the 60's for example). The best advice that I can give in that area is, as been mentioned, look at a lot of graded coins and get a "feel" for what they look like. Also, it would be very much worth your while to read Rick Tomaska's book on Franklins, as it will give you details on each date and mint. And then look at the coins. Many of the above mentioned dates can be very tricky to discern between AU58 and MS63, but it can be done.

Frank

lablover

Welcome

Coulport

Uh, right.

The only thing I could add is that working crystal balls are more rare than any coins.

ksteelheader

Welcome aboard! Lots of good advice has been given. Good luck..Ken

morganbarber

If you insist on buying certified coins, buy only PCGS, and after you improve your eye, NGC, and later, when you are an expert, any service whose slab contains a superior coin. If high grade is important to you, 65 is pretty much the line between gem and "nice". PCGS coins in MS65 will cost more than you want to spend, but other services' coins which are truly in 65 can be cherried from time to time.

LucyBop

here is a thread that be helpful in learning how to grade Franklins, and Rick T's book is a must own if you do get into this series..

Franklin halfs-101

jonesy

Andy, That is great advice. That's how I learned.
Glenn

jonesy

Lucy, After reading your Franklin Halfs 101 I might get into them. That was quite informative and right to the point. I wish ever one was like that. Thanks Glenn

RYK

Lucy,

Terrific thread on Franklins. I am starting to get interested...

Robert