1959 Proof Franklin Half Dollar Error

IRCWCoins

I was looking through a couple of my 1959 proof sets, and I noticed this.



I thought, "That is one nasty staple scratch." When I looked closer, I realized that it was not a staple scratch, but a strike through error. What do you think it was struck through? Is it worth getting slabbed?

Man

Looks like a hook.

Or maybe a safety pin.

From the little I now of errors proof struck-thrus are good ones.

GoldenEyeNumismatics

doesn't look like a die crack, maybe a die gauge

MadMarty

Struck thru a wire.

joecheck

It's hard to tell from the picture; is it raised or incuse.

IRCWCoins

<< <i>It's hard to tell from the picture; is it raised or incuse. >>



It is incused.

Myqqy

Are struck through proofs worth any premium?

joecheck

In my uneducated opinion, it looks like a scratch from left to right...thus the missing incuse area on the bell's edge. I would think a struck thru wire would be continuous.

WoodenJefferson

I'm inclined to think it is a nasty scratch also, maybe ON the planchet before striking. If it were a die struck wire or object, the die would have pushed the foriegn object into the fields close to the bell. Also the incused line is tappered like is was scrapped in a horizontal fashion. Question, if you can prove it was on the proof planchet, would that be considered an error proof coin?

GoldenEyeNumismatics

If it is incuse then my best guess would be that the coin was struck thru and eye lash

robertpr

<< <i>Are struck through proofs worth any premium? >>



Any proof errors are worth a premium. I'd definitely have that slabbed as a mint error.

joecheck

<<If it is incuse then my best guess would be that the coin was struck thru and eye lash>>

That would be a record breaking length for an eyelash.

darktone

<< <i>Are struck through proofs worth any premium? >>



I had a proof Framklin that had a strike thru- a wire it looked to be. It was a 60 If I remember right? Was a nice cameo coin and the strike through appeared in cameo as well- it ebayed for $30-$40?

seanq

That coin looks like it was struck through a wire. I've read that the dies or other equipment nearby were sometimes clened with a wire brush, and that these errors were the result of a stray bristle. Probably carries a slight premium over a regular coin.


Sean Reynolds

FredWeinberg

Hard to be sure from the scans, but it appears to be
a genuine "Struck Thru" coin.

Probably struck thru a piece of wire, or even a very
thin piece of silver that was a scrap.

If you're attending the ANA, I'd be happy to take a
look at it.....

CaptHenway

Send it back, and see if they have any nicer ones in stock.....
.
But seriously, folks, I would guess it was struck through the wire rim on a previous coin that sheared off and fell onto the lower die. The break where it crosses the right side of the bell could just mean that it snapped during the start of the strike, as one part of the die hit the piece of metal before another part of the die.

Tom D.