Franklin Market Continues to Flounder!

bushmaster8

Yesterday on Ebay a PCGS MS66 1953-S sold for a mere $172.50 , dirt cheap.

Then, a 1953-P PCGS MS66 sold for $276 which is an incredible bargain IMHO.

If you can live without those pesky bell lines, now is the time to put some of these Gems away!

RYK

If you can live without those pesky bell lines, now is the time to put some of these Gems away!

I do not know much about Frankies, but I admittedly have a cynical view of the FBLs, FSBs, and other full strike designations. At the risk of offending our hosts here, I will say no more.

BillJones

It's been a dirty little secret among dealers that the bids on the Gray Sheet for Franklin Half Dollars were unsupported by the "real market." At times I've been able to hand pick really nice certifed Franklins for less than Blue Sheet.

The trouble with the Franklin half dollars was that they were saved by the roll in BU condition. The supply, at least for the not full bell line coins, is quite high; and there is room for speculators to play games with the market for their personal gain.

MadMonk

<< <i>Yesterday on Ebay a PCGS MS66 1953-S sold for a mere $172.50 , dirt cheap.

Then, a 1953-P PCGS MS66 sold for $276 which is an incredible bargain IMHO.

If you can live without those pesky bell lines, now is the time to put some of these Gems away! >>



Were they nice coins? i.e., how was the eye appeal?

1957joe

I STILL love them anyway!

Merc

I used to have several PCGS graded MS65 FBL franklins. Most were brilliant white or had very nice toning. I avoided ones with heavy or brown/tan toning. Then I saw the populations climb quickly from 2000 to 2002 and I sold off many of them while they were still high. I figured the price would coutinue to drop and I could buy them again later for less if I still wanted to collect that series. I kept a few just because I liked them. I don't see the Franklin prices going up anytime soon.

bushmaster8

<< <i>It's been a dirty little secret among dealers that the bids on the Gray Sheet for Franklin Half Dollars were unsupported by the "real market." At times I've been able to hand pick really nice certifed Franklins for less than Blue Sheet.

The trouble with the Franklin half dollars was that they were saved by the roll in BU condition. The supply, at least for the not full bell line coins, is quite high; and there is room for speculators to play games with the market for their personal gain. >>



In general, you are right Bill, but the supply of MS66 1953-P's would not be considered "high" by anyone! I'll buy all the 1953 PCGS MS66's you care to send me at $275 each!

Baley

If you can live without those pesky bell lines, now is the time to put some of these Gems away!

couldn't agree more! my favorite kind is a raw, near gem, near FBL coin, which can sometimes be had for a song!





thanks for the excuse to post these pics (one of my current favorite coins)

Sn3nut

I agree that prices are coming down in this series. I recently upgraded two of the Frankies in my birth year registry mint set by picking up a 49-P and 49-S, both in MS66 FBL, at a total cost of under $1K. I used to have a fairly good assortment of FBLs in MS64 and 65 (except for the 53-S), but I have sold or traded all but the 49s in the past couple of years.

bushmaster8

Wow! Baley! What did you use to chisel off the D mint-mark on that baby??

foodude

As those that follow this series, prices are all over the map. Typically, properly grade brilliant PCGS/NGC MS65FBLs and MS66FBLs sell quickly and at a good price. Ditto for attractively toned versions, although some people only like brilliant coins. For so-so attractive pieces and ugly ones, and for Franklins this makes up the vast majority, prices tend to be softer, and more difficult to sell, with the ugly ones collecting a lot of dust even at bargain prices.

Many people collectors and dealers seem frustrated with this series. A major reason is that most of the coins are either not brilliant or not attractively toned.

Brilliant and attractively toned pieces can be found sometimes, including on ebay, cheap. My reasoning for these bargains is that one needs to sift through so many so-so and ugly coins to find the really nice ones, they say why bother, and look to other series. This is the reason I don't spend much time looking for them on ebay. I do actively look for nice ones at shows- it is easy to quickly scan cases or boxes.

FC57Coins

I agree with Greg - there is a market for these coins out there - and exceptional coins do go for good prices. However there are very nice coins like the two MS66's cited above that go for reasonable prices. Bytheway - the prices for those two pieces are somewhat low, but not knowing what they look like, I'd venture to say that they're middle of the road pieces - IE - not too exciting and not to flashy.

haletj

I was 3 coins away from an ms64 Franklin set, an now I've been slowly selling them. I can't wait to start an ms66 set. I need to wait until I have some money though!

FC57Coins

But the nice thing about it is that right now you can put an MS65/66 set together very reasonably and get very nice coins while you're at it.

Bear

BUY LOW, SELL HIGH!

FC57Coins

Very astute words Bear

michael

as an example

gem pre 1955 s mint franklins that are rainbow pastel toned mint set coins with amazing eye appeal will get better and i am sure there are other exceptions to the rules but the franklins will have to be super special extraordinary quality eye appealling coins

michael

Tassa

Very nice, Baley.

bushmaster8

Elegant response by Foodude! Looks like he has a pretty good handle on what is happening with this series.

dorkkarl

<< <i>Yesterday on Ebay a PCGS MS66 1953-S sold for a mere $172.50 , dirt cheap. Then, a 1953-P PCGS MS66 sold for $276 which is an incredible bargain IMHO. >>

those prices don't sound so cheap to me!

K S