Guess the grade on this tough 51s mint Frankie....(grade and commentary posted)

LucyBop · January 18, 2004 9:50AM

Give it a shot, this one is freshly graded..... Fudude and FC57Coins already know....... so you two hush hush....

Louis · January 18, 2004 9:51AM

MS66FBL

airplanenut · January 18, 2004 9:52AM

I'd say MS65FBL... there's a little chatter, but old Ben's got a razor-sharp strike and super luster!

Jeremy

foodude · January 18, 2004 9:53AM

Lucy, remember I changed my name to Foodude (foo-dude). Now I'll be quite

Russ · January 18, 2004 9:53AM

MS64FBL.

Russ, NCNE

1960NYGiants · January 18, 2004 9:54AM

MS65FBL. Is it for sale?

Gene

CoinAddict · January 18, 2004 9:56AM

I am going to say it grades MS-66FBL. It is very nice coin.

airplanenut · January 18, 2004 9:58AM

<< <i>Lucy, remember I changed my name to Foodude (foo-dude). Now I'll be quite

>>

Did the submission take that long to get graded?

JrGMan2004 · January 18, 2004 10:00AM

MS66FBL and a beaut to boot

Nice Franky, Lucy!!!

mdwoods · January 18, 2004 10:02AM

I'm going to say MS63FBL, maybe 64. There appears to be a lot of chatter on the bust. And a flat spot of some sort halfway between his ear and the top of his head.

darktone · January 18, 2004 10:02AM

MS64 FBL

LucyBop · January 18, 2004 10:04AM

I'll reveal the grade very soon........

ksteelheader · January 18, 2004 10:16AM

I'll go out on a limb here and say AU55. Reason being that at first glance the coin seems to be not fully struck. The obverse seems softly struck, but the reverse is complete.....Ken

jpumper · January 18, 2004 10:17AM

63FBL due to chatter on both obv and rev

rainbowroosie · January 18, 2004 10:17AM

64 FBL

Bikingnut · January 18, 2004 10:18AM

MS64FBL. Nice looking Franklin.

LucyBop · January 18, 2004 10:18AM

<< <i>I'll go out on a limb here and say AU55. >>

That would be somethin...... I've never gotten a AU55.....

JRocco · January 18, 2004 10:19AM

MS65FBL

ksteelheader · January 18, 2004 10:21AM

There's always a first time. Why, look at Marty, with him there's always the 300th or 400th time....

...Ken

Cladiator · January 18, 2004 10:22AM

MS65FBL

nankraut · January 18, 2004 10:26AM

63FBL

fcloud · January 18, 2004 10:33AM

65FBL

DCAMFranklin · January 18, 2004 10:34AM

MS-64

jbsteven · January 18, 2004 10:35AM

64

LucyBop · January 18, 2004 10:37AM

Ok, this one was pulled from a Original roll of 51s's......... Lets look at the Obverse first. I have circled three areas were we have Roll Friction on the coin. It is hard to see, it is hard to see even when you have the coin on hand. This usually knocks a Frankie out of
GEM status.... Usually, I have seen some exceptions. Where you see the black arrows, they are pointing to a hit in the field.
Now, when I say GEM Frankies can be found with some minor Roll Friction, this seems to be the case in the 51s, 52s and 53s Franklins, in my experience. The strike on the Obverse is actually very decent for a 'S' mint coin as the letters don't really blend into the fields as they do in a poorly struck coin.

Now, onto the Reverse......
The Reverse has chatter in the Bell which I didn't circle, what I did circle was some hits in the field and also some hits in the top part of the Bell. You can also see a milk spot by the little Eagle and the Bell.... The Reverse also has a nice strike with some nice Bell Lines.

Now for the final verdect..... This is a very nice Blast white coin with some strong satiny luster, and a pretty darn good strike for a 'S' mint coin. To those that guessed ms64fbl, your correct! I see this coin as a solid ms64fbl coin that is on the upper end because of the strike and luster. Ms64 Franklins can be very baggy, not so on this one. This is a lovely ms64fbl coin thats a tough find in fbl.... 51s and 52s and of course 53s are all tough in fbl... And super tough in GEM fbl........

The point of this thread is to point out the effects of roll friction on grading, sometimes it gets by, sometimes it doesn't. Another thing to watch out for in your search for GEM quality franklins that have been pulled from a roll.....

With all that said, this one looks very nice in person.........

Russ · January 18, 2004 10:40AM

<< <i>To those that guessed ms64fbl, your correct! >>

And, who was first with that?

Russ, NCNE

LucyBop · January 18, 2004 10:44AM

you did well Russel, your years of studying and collecting Frankies shows!

CoinAddict · January 18, 2004 10:45AM

Thanks for the valuable information, Lucy. These kinds of threads are very good at helping all of us understand why a coin grades this and another grades that. Keep passing along the information.

Louis · January 18, 2004 10:46AM

Very informative Hepkitty.

KUCH · January 18, 2004 10:46AM

LucyBop... your Frankie thread was really appreciated by us "rookies".

coinkat · January 18, 2004 10:46AM

great looking Franklin... especially for a 1951-s

foodude · January 18, 2004 10:56AM

As I told Lucy a day or so ago, I agree this is a nice 64FBL. Here are some additional comments:

Where you see the black arrows, they are pointing to a hit in the field. PCGS hates these types of hits in the field on Franklins (Washington Quarters too) and they usually preclude a grade higher than 64.

can also see a milk spot by the little Eagle and the Bell.... PCGS doesn't like "milk spots", and many Franklins with them are 64 and below; NGC is more tolerant of the milk spots and will grade some coins 65 with some noticeable milk spots .

The Reverse has chatter in the Bell which I didn't circle Even some 66s have light, multiple chatter on the bell, but on this coin together with the other comments it is a 64 coin.

also some hits in the top part of the Bell While the depth, size, and number of these hits may (I need to see the coin in person) preclude a 65 or higher, but just one of these hits (there are three on her coin) in thjis location would not preclude a 65.

Oh, and those that missed the FBL designation -1.5 points if this was in the World series grading contest. (But it is hard to grade a coin from a pic

Fairlaneman · January 18, 2004 10:56AM

I had it at 63FBL and then saw your post. Many hits on the reverse lets it stay in MS64? Very nice luster on the obverse though. A pretty nice Bald Guy I would say...

Nice thread Lucy.

Ken

XpipedreamR · January 18, 2004 10:59AM

64FBL

Oops...too late

LucyBop · January 18, 2004 11:03AM

<< <i>Many hits on the reverse lets it stay in MS64? >>

Yeah, its not as bad on the coin as what you maybe seeing on a exploded upsized image which will make any defect look worse and exaggerated.....

It is true that really excessive bag marks can put you in a 3 and also a 2 holder........

ms64 Frankies do tend to be baggy....
ms65 Frankies will still have some hits but not many, because a Frankie is a bigger coin, the hits may seem alittle high for a GEM coin,
in some cases.......
ms66 Frankies can have a few hits but they are usually very small and non-distracting in anyway.
ms67 Frankies should be very diffucult to find a hit, though you may find some very tiny ones....

the above is said with just bagmarks/ticks/hits in mind..... Luster, Strike, and toning also plays a major role in the above grades...

Shamika · January 18, 2004 11:18AM

Educational thread!

foodude · January 18, 2004 11:27AM

the above is said with just bagmarks/ticks/hits in mind..... Luster, Strike, and toning also plays a major role in the above grades...

This is an excellent point. I often see people undergrade a coin by not fully appreciating the superb luster on some coins, particularly when the coin has a marks approaching the maximum allowable for a grade.