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Franklin Half Instructional Series #23 - 1957D Half Dollar
FC57Coins
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Franklin Half Instructional Series #23: 1957D Half Dollar.
This is the 23rd installment of the Franklin Half Instructional Series. Hopefully those of you who are interested in Franklins will add your own observations and pictures. By the end of the series we should wind up with a pretty comprehensive study of the Franklin series, along with some nice pictures as well. And who knows, maybe some other folks will do the same for other series!
Sources for this series generally include “An Analysis of Gem Franklins” by Jack Ehrmantraut and “The Complete Guide for Franklin Halves” by Rick Tomaska – two books which I feel every serious Franklin collector should read
1957D
In this year of the return of branch mint issues after a 3 year hiatus, we have the 5th largest mintage in series history at 19,966,850. This issue is generally marred with bag marks and water spots. If found, an original roll will generally yield coins with less than average strike and luster, and plenty of bag marks and water spots. White MS64FBL coins are relatively easy to find, since the mintage yielded about a third Full Bell Line coins, and with a high mintage, some rolls did contain nice examples, though not gems. When you get into MS65 and above coins, most of these are from mint sets, and they were generally toned. Now it serves to remind ourselves that “toned” means not white, not necessarily beautifully colored. Most 1957D’s, because of their lack of luster, tend to display a rather drab brown or grey toning, although every once in a great while, a handsomely toned golden, green, blue, russet coin would appear, only to be stashed away in some of the better collections.
In MS66 and above, we find that 1957D’s are much tougher to find that 56P and 57P coins, because of the general lower quality in strike and luster characteristics, as well as the tendency for drab toned coins. Superb, minimally marked coins are generally hard to find. On the positive side though, these tend to be for the most part well struck FBL coins.
Current population numbers from PCGS read as follows:
MS63 and lower 106 in non FBL and 58 in FBL
MS64 - 590 in non FBL and 3436 in FBL
MS65 - 785 in non FBL and 1531 in FBL
MS66 - 100 in non FBL and 296 in FBL
MS67 – 1 in non FBL and 8 in FBL
Numbers for MS64FBL and 65FBL are unusually high, compared to some of the coins in previous years, but they taper off a little bit in MS66FBL and are about half of the number of MS67’s thus far graded. One has to keep in mind that because of lower than average luster and a high percentage of drab coins, that 1957D’s, though plentiful in MS64FBL to MS66FBL, are going to run a little bit higher due to the fact that not a lot of them will have the eye appeal that collectors generally seek. MS64FBL would be the lowest recommended collectable grade for me in this date. These can probably be had for anywhere from $25 to $40, the same as MS65 non FBL coins. The more expensive coins will be those with nice coloration, or bright white specimens. MS65FBL coins can be had for around $75 and will go up to maybe $100 or more, depending on eye appeal. MS66 coins pick up right around that same price range, and MS66FBL’s can be had for the relatively reasonable price of $125 for typical grey/brown specimens to close to $1,000 for gorgeously toned specimens. MS67FBL’s when found, would likely start in the $3,000 range and go up from there.
For more information on this date you can look the coin up in the Coinfacts page, which also sites significant sales appearances over the past few years. This information can be found HERE. I will continue to post the COINFACTS site for reference, but I am in no way promoting their products or services.
A high mintage issue, the 1957D tends to be one of the lesser known or sought after members of the collection unless you are looking to fill a complete set, or are looking for an unusually toned example. Finding a eye appealing coin from this issue can be tough – but as with many Franklin issues, they’re out there. Have fun collecting Frankies!
This is the 23rd installment of the Franklin Half Instructional Series. Hopefully those of you who are interested in Franklins will add your own observations and pictures. By the end of the series we should wind up with a pretty comprehensive study of the Franklin series, along with some nice pictures as well. And who knows, maybe some other folks will do the same for other series!
Sources for this series generally include “An Analysis of Gem Franklins” by Jack Ehrmantraut and “The Complete Guide for Franklin Halves” by Rick Tomaska – two books which I feel every serious Franklin collector should read
1957D
In this year of the return of branch mint issues after a 3 year hiatus, we have the 5th largest mintage in series history at 19,966,850. This issue is generally marred with bag marks and water spots. If found, an original roll will generally yield coins with less than average strike and luster, and plenty of bag marks and water spots. White MS64FBL coins are relatively easy to find, since the mintage yielded about a third Full Bell Line coins, and with a high mintage, some rolls did contain nice examples, though not gems. When you get into MS65 and above coins, most of these are from mint sets, and they were generally toned. Now it serves to remind ourselves that “toned” means not white, not necessarily beautifully colored. Most 1957D’s, because of their lack of luster, tend to display a rather drab brown or grey toning, although every once in a great while, a handsomely toned golden, green, blue, russet coin would appear, only to be stashed away in some of the better collections.
In MS66 and above, we find that 1957D’s are much tougher to find that 56P and 57P coins, because of the general lower quality in strike and luster characteristics, as well as the tendency for drab toned coins. Superb, minimally marked coins are generally hard to find. On the positive side though, these tend to be for the most part well struck FBL coins.
Current population numbers from PCGS read as follows:
MS63 and lower 106 in non FBL and 58 in FBL
MS64 - 590 in non FBL and 3436 in FBL
MS65 - 785 in non FBL and 1531 in FBL
MS66 - 100 in non FBL and 296 in FBL
MS67 – 1 in non FBL and 8 in FBL
Numbers for MS64FBL and 65FBL are unusually high, compared to some of the coins in previous years, but they taper off a little bit in MS66FBL and are about half of the number of MS67’s thus far graded. One has to keep in mind that because of lower than average luster and a high percentage of drab coins, that 1957D’s, though plentiful in MS64FBL to MS66FBL, are going to run a little bit higher due to the fact that not a lot of them will have the eye appeal that collectors generally seek. MS64FBL would be the lowest recommended collectable grade for me in this date. These can probably be had for anywhere from $25 to $40, the same as MS65 non FBL coins. The more expensive coins will be those with nice coloration, or bright white specimens. MS65FBL coins can be had for around $75 and will go up to maybe $100 or more, depending on eye appeal. MS66 coins pick up right around that same price range, and MS66FBL’s can be had for the relatively reasonable price of $125 for typical grey/brown specimens to close to $1,000 for gorgeously toned specimens. MS67FBL’s when found, would likely start in the $3,000 range and go up from there.
For more information on this date you can look the coin up in the Coinfacts page, which also sites significant sales appearances over the past few years. This information can be found HERE. I will continue to post the COINFACTS site for reference, but I am in no way promoting their products or services.
A high mintage issue, the 1957D tends to be one of the lesser known or sought after members of the collection unless you are looking to fill a complete set, or are looking for an unusually toned example. Finding a eye appealing coin from this issue can be tough – but as with many Franklin issues, they’re out there. Have fun collecting Frankies!
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I like the bottom one, and thanks for another great Franklin post
Dennis
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This one, in person, just has the "look"
two coins from same mint set..love that red, green, and gold.
here's one I've just paid for:
The Ludlow Brilliant Collection (1938-64)
<< <i>TTT for those who missed it ... even as a casual, buy a nice one when it strikes me Frankie collector, I have been archiving this great series of articles... >>
Which reminds me. For those of us who have enjoyed reading this series and probably have missed a few along the way, is there a link to the entire series up to this point?
I would love to have all these archived on my hard drive.
If anybody knows, thanks in advance.
John Marnard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace, 1920, page 235ff
<< <i>Keep 'em coming Frank.
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In Memory of Frank...
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Take Care, Dave