Franklin RPM help

flykite

As much as I know about mint-state Franklins, I have never paid much attention to repunched mint marks.
over the winter. I came across an interesting piece. It is a 1949-S with what I term a "transitional die-state"
in that the obverse is a totally prooflike finish (specimen strike??) coupled with a satin-finished reverse die with a prominent RPM that looks to be either an S/S or an S/D. Are these common??? Thanks for your help....Ed

Ronyahski

Ed - Sounds like it could be another purported specimen piece. Some evidence exists that a small group of 49-S Franklins were specially made as presentation pieces to commemorate the Franklin series, and were presented by the Director of the US Mint. I know of only a few pieces that exist. Haven't heard RPM mentioned with these pieces, though.

A year or two ago Frank was trying to research the coin. I'm sure he'll chime in here.

bushmaster8

There is an RPM for the 49-S listed in the RPM book. I have one at NGC getting designated right now.

FC57Coins

Ed - I believe there is a repunched 49S/S mentioned in one of the books that I've read on Franklins. From what I understand, and I've done a little bit of research, not exhaustive by any means, it appears that someone at the San Francisco Mint was experimenting with some of the Franklin dies to see if they could prepare themselves for the 1950 revival of proof sets. If you look at 1950 proof sets and 1949S Prooflike specimens, you'll see there are similarities in the way they are made.

I wish there was more written on the subject, unfortunately, I believe it'll just take a lot of digging to find the information we need.

flykite

Frank:

Thanks for the info; verrrry interesting about the die preparation! Why would they be experimenting in
San Francisco when proofs were always being made in Philly???

If true, and if you have info on this, then this may be the link to get "specimen" status for those '49-S!!!

Ed

FC57Coins

Ed - one of these days Im going to get into researching this thing full bore - I'm thinking that I'm going to have to go to the Philly mint, the SF Mint, and to the birthplace of Nellie Tayloe Ross where they keep her personal correspondence - until then it's all hearsay. One thing about the story - is that since the 1949 ANA conference took place in San Francisco that year, it may have put additional emphasis on the new half dollar being minted there, and perhaps one of the mint employees started to dink around with it. To this date I have not seen any Franklin examples that look as radically different as the 1949S Prooflikes.

flykite

Frank:

You might try the ANA archives on the web; worth a shot....ed